A dad-of-two on trial for murdering a child rapist has today pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Simon Brown, 28, admitted responsibility for William Rowe's death after his legal team formally closed the defence case.

Brown still denies murder, with the jury expected to retire to consider its verdict on that charge later this week.

Maidstone Crown Court has heard that 71-year-old Mr Rowe was violently assaulted at the home of a mutual friend in Mercury Close, Borstal, in the early hours of September 4 last year.

His lifeless, blanket-covered body was discovered by police the following day after Brown's mum made a distressed 999 call.

Mr Rowe, whose head and upper body had also been tightly wrapped in a towel, had sustained multiple injuries including a significant one to his brain, 27 rib fractures, and fractures to his nose and eye area.

His cause of death was later given as blunt force trauma to the head, neck and torso.

Brown told police he lost his temper when the sex offender, having been shown a KentOnline article reporting his conviction in 2012, "bragged and boasted" that it "wasn't the first time and wouldn't be the last."

The story detailed how Mr Rowe had been found guilty of three offences of rape, three of indecent assault and one of indecency with a child.

It also included a reference to Mr Rowe's earlier conviction in 1984 for indecent assault of another child.

Giving evidence last week, Brown, of Snowdon Close, Chatham, said he "exploded" at Mr Rowe's reaction and then lashed out in a "blanket of rage" he could not control.

But the prosecution told the court his assertion that he never intended to cause really serious harm or to kill his victim was "simply not true" and "wholly undermined" by the severity of the injuries suffered.

The trial continues.