A graduate who was stalked by her soldier ex-boyfriend chose not to have him arrested for harassing her just days before he slit her throat from "ear to ear", a murder trial was told.

Obsessed Lance Corporal Trimaan "Harry" Dhillon broke into Alice Ruggles' ground-floor flat and severed her neck, leaving her in the blood-soaked bathroom, when he thought she was about to start seeing another man, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Dhillon had travelled from his barracks near Edinburgh and as he waited for her to return to her Gateshead home last October, the SAS-hopeful Signaller was trying to arrange a casual "hook-up" on Tinder with another woman, jurors were told.

He denies murdering the 24-year-old former Northumbria University student, who was originally from Leicestershire and worked for Sky in Newcastle.

After they had split, Ms Ruggles contacted Northumbria Police regarding her concerns about Dhillon when he travelled from Scotland, got into her back yard and knocked on her bedroom window late at night, left her flowers and Ferrero Rocher chocolates and then walked away.

On the day Dhillon was instructed by his commanding officer to stay away from his ex, he posted her a parcel containing photos and a letter.

Ms Ruggles phoned police again and was unable to speak to the officer who dealt with her original complaint about Dhillon, as they were on leave.

She was asked by the officer if she wanted Dhillon to be arrested.

Richard Wright QC, prosecuting, said: "Sadly, the dilemma this young girl was in is obvious.

"She was scared and worried about the behaviour of the man she had plainly loved and cared for.

"Generously, she told the officer she did not want him to be arrested.

"She could not have know she would pay for that decision with her life just five days later."

Two nights before the murder, Dhillon took photographs of her yard, perhaps as reconnaissance, Mr Wright said.

On October 10, Dhillon again drove from Edinburgh and waited for Ms Ruggles to come home, and used a dating app to make a casual arrangement with a woman in Durham as he sat in his BMW, the jury heard.

He broke in through her bedroom window and there was a violent struggle through the flat which an upstairs neighbour heard, Mr Wright said.

Dhillon drew the blade across her neck six times in the attack, the court heard. His victim also suffered a wound to the nose and her hand as well as chest injuries as if she had been knelt on, Mr Wright said.

The murder weapon has not been found, but a knife was missing from the kitchen, the jury was told.

The jury was played the 999 call when Ms Ruggles' flatmate Maxine McGill found her "blue" and covered in blood on the floor.

Breathing heavily and appearing very distressed, the friend named the soldier as the suspect.

The prosecutor said Ms McGill immediately knew Ms Ruggles was dead.

He said: "She had suffered horrendous injuries she could not have survived.

"Someone had slit her throat open from ear to ear, leaving her neck wide open."

Mr Wright said the victim bled to death on the bathroom floor.

At one point she said: "It looks like she's been attacked. Please help."

She told the call handler Ms Ruggles had reported having trouble with her ex-boyfriend Dhillon, saying she had called 101 in the past.

Mr Wright said the flatmate had good reason to name Dhillon.

He said: "Maxine had seen the obsessive and manipulative manner in which Dhillon had harassed and stalked Alice in the weeks and months before her death.

"She had seen first hand how Alice's happy, bubbly demeanour had changed over time."

The "fun-loving" Sky employee was short and slightly built, weighing nine and a half stone and was 5ft 2in, Mr Wright said.

Dhillon was tall, powerfully-built and was a signaller with his regiment who had passed some of the courses to join the special forces, the jury heard.

He had served in Afghanistan but not in a combat role and the Army was unaware of any traumatic episode during his service, the court heard.

He did become obsessed with Ms Ruggles, and was described in court as a jealous and manipulative man.

They got together in October 2015 after he spotted her photo on a mutual friend's Facebook page, describing Ms Ruggles as "the most naturally beautiful girl in the world".

She was at first put off by the comment but changed her opinion when she saw his photo, describing him to the mutual friend as "so fit".

But it was not until the January that they physically met, and their relationship quickly raised concerns about its intensity.

Dhillon would check her messages and question why she was trying to look nice when she went out.

Mr Wright said: "He spoke to her about cutting off his own arms to show how much he loved her and also writing a letter to her in his own blood."

But questioning her movements was "deeply hypocritical" as he was serially unfaithful to Ms Ruggles, the court heard.

He was a regular user of internet dating sites and on one occasion a woman he had asked out on Tinder got in contact with Ms Ruggles to warn her about what he was doing.

Dhillon had asked the Tinder match to go to a ball with him, but in the end he went with Ms Ruggles, the jury was told.

Mr Wright said: "It was plain she had truly fallen for this defendant, but at the same time she couldn't trust him and she knew that his behaviour was controlling and inappropriate and she began to try gently to extricate herself from the relationship.

"She met with fierce resistance from the defendant."

The trial continues tomorrow.