EMILY Longley’s boyfriend yesterday admitted to grabbing her “quite hard” around the neck during an argument.

Elliot Turner confessed to using his right hand to grab the 17-year-old aspiring model around the collar bone area and push her onto the bed.

He said he held his hand on her neck for about five or six seconds, during the incident which took place at the Turner family home early on May 7, 2011.

Turner, 20, told Winchester Crown Court that an argument had developed between them in his bedroom and Emily had gone “crazy” punching him on his cheek bone, kicking him in the face, stomach and thigh area.

Turner told the court: “She was screaming at me... at that point she was throwing punches at me and she was going nuts.”

He added: “I then grabbed Emily by the neck using my right hand.”

He said the grab wasn’t very hard but “quite hard”.

“I grabbed her by the neck while she was in the kneeling position and from that pushed her down onto the bed.

“I then pressed down on her neck while she was in the lying down position.”

Turner said he grabbed her to “calm her down” and denied he intended to hurt her or kill her.

He said he stormed out of the bedroom and sat in the lounge for 15 minutes before writing a letter to his mum and posting it under her bedroom door.

He later slept alongside Emily and woke between 8.30am and 8.45am.

The defendant told the court he woke his mum, Anita, and she tried to rouse Emily before calling her husband Leigh.

Turner is accused of murdering Emily on May 7 last year, and is also accused with his parents Leigh Turner, 54, and Anita Turner, 51, of perverting the course of justice. They deny the charges.

The trial continues.