A Lewisham handyman has claimed Hamas may have kidnapped a missing woman he is accused of murdering.

Carl Cooper, 66, of Broadfield Road in Hither Green, is accused of killing Naomi Hunte and Fiona Holm in the space of 16 months – both of whom he was in a relationship with.   

Cooper was arrested after Naomi, 41, was found stabbed to death at her home in Woolwich in February 2022, but he was later released under police investigation.  

A little over a year later Fiona, 48, went missing from Hither Green and has not been seen since. 

Cooper denies murdering both women and claims that Fiona may still be alive. 

Judge Justice Johnson summarised Cooper’s evidence before the jury were sent out to consider their verdicts.

He told the jury that Cooper said  anyone could have picked Fiona up off the street and driven off with her. 

Cooper said: “You have people like Hamas who kidnap people, hold them hostage and feed them and don’t release them. 

“I do not know that it was Hamas but that is what I’m thinking.” 

He said he last saw her in the early hours of June 21 last year but she left his flat safe and well. 

Cooper also maintains he did not murder Naomi. 

He accepts that he went to her flat on February 9, 2022, but when he left she was alive. 

“He says someone else must have gone into the flat after he had left,” Judge Johnson said. 

Cooper also said police were withholding CCTV which would exonerate him. 

The trial continues.