A BRIT cyclist is facing a decade in jail after fatally hacking a pensioner with an axe after allegedly being tied him down and raped by him. The 32-year-old man admitted to attacking the 75-year-old inside the OAP's own home in Finland but claimed it was an act of self defence in court. The deadly fight took place in a flat in Seinajoki, western Finland, on July 29, last year, reports Finnish newspaper Iltalehti.

A court heard, the elder victim invited the cyclist back to his home after the pair met at a spa a day earlier. The Brit was bought a phone by his new friend as they made their way back to the flat, according to local reports. He later told investigators the pensioner said he "owed him a favour" after opening up the present. The cyclist refused but claimed he believed the man was referring to sexual acts.

South Ostrobothnia District Court was then told the Brit took a short nap but when he woke up he "was tied up with bandages" and "couldn't move properly". The Brit alleged he was raped on the bed after waking up. He told the court at his trial: "The ordeal was horrible. When it was over, he rolled over next to me. "Then he started snoring and I decided to escape.". His plan saw him go to the kitchen and cut his ties with an unknown utensil to free himself.

The man had an axe in his hand, and I had no choice but to defend myself. It was either him or me. The pensioner woke up shortly after and blocked off the exits by standing in the kitchen door with an axe in his hand, the Brit claimed. He allegedly said he was told by the man police would never believe what had happened if he called them. At this point the Brit said he turned desperate. "The man had an axe in his hand, and I had no choice but to defend myself. It was either him or me," he told the court.

He claimed the two wrestled over the axe before he managed to grab hold of it and hit the pensioner twice. Speaking to police when he was arrested, he said: "The first blow was when I intended to hit him, but not to kill him. "I slipped and the axe slipped from my hand.". Prosecutors claim the man was struck up to six times. But the Brit said he panicked after only one follow-up hit and quickly fled the scene in the victim's car.

Investigators believe the pensioner was killed at sometime between midnight and 2.14am. The getaway car was found hours later crashed into a ditch outside Kyyjarvi - just a 90-minute drive from the victim's home. The Brit blamed the accident on a deer that "appeared out of nowhere", according to a Whatsapp message sent to his friend in the morning. He also wrote "if the cops had come, I would have been screwed", prosecutors found.

The pensioner's body was only found two weeks after he was believed to have been killed on August 14. His concerned relatives reportedly called up cops for a welfare check. An axe was discovered in the victim's flat, but only the pensioner's DNA was found on it, local media reports. Police later identified the Brit as a suspect as he was seen in CCTV footage alongside the OAP when they went to buy the phone.

The first blow was when I intended to hit him, but not to kill him. At first, officers believed he had left Finland but they soon managed to track him down him in a flat in eastern Finland on August 17. When they questioned him, the Brit admitted to hacking at the man in self defence for the alleged rape. Police also managed to uncover photos taken by a local on July 27, which appeared to show a second axe attached to the frame of the man's bike.

The Brit said he never had an axe with him at any point before or after the fatal meeting and only used the victim's own one to kill him. The second axe has reportedly still not been found. The court also heard that in the weeks after the man's death, the cyclist searched online for information about the crime. This took place before police had even found a body, prosecutors said. The trial has now been paused after the court ordered a mental health examination for the Brit.