THE girlfriend of Peter Falconio - believed murdered three years ago in the Australian Outback - admitted today she had a second lover.

Joanne Lees, of Almondbury, admitted having sex in Sydney with another man while she was living with Mr Falconio.

The dramatic confession came only hours after Miss Lees, 30, had admitted that she had a secret email relationship with a man named only as Nick.

The evidence emerged during cross-examination by defence lawyers at a Darwin court hearing in Australia's Northern Territory.

The lawyers are acting for Australian mechanic Bradley John Murdoch, accused of murdering Mr Falconio, from Huddersfield, on July 14, 2001, and abducting and assaulting Miss Lees.

The court hearing in Darwin is to establish if evidence against him is strong enough to send to a jury trial.

Asked by Murdoch's defence lawyer Grant Algie if she had had a sexual relationship with another man while living with 29-year-old Mr Falconio in Sydney, Miss Lees replied: "I'm going to answer yes, but I wouldn't class it as an affair or a relationship."

Mr Algie claimed yesterday that evidence of a second relationship would damage the credibility of Miss Lees, from Brighton, who is the prosecution's star witness in the case.

Yesterday she nervously described the man who flagged down the camper van she and Mr Falconio were travelling in, apparently shot her boyfriend and then tied her up. She managed to escape hours later and raise the alarm.

Miss Lees finished her testimony late this morning and was expected to fly out of Australia almost immediately.

Mr Falconio's body has never been found, despite a massive hunt across parts of Australia.

The court was told earlier that the couple's camper van had been flagged down on the remote Stuart Highway, near Barrow Creek, and he was shot.

The couple had been touring Australia for several months before the attack.

The pre-trial hearing, scheduled to last six weeks, was continuing.