Rahim Mohammadi, 41, had previously alarmed other plot-holders by being “threatening, intimidating and sometimes physically violent”, a jury was told. 

Mohammadi is said to have killed widow Lea Adri-Soejoko, the secretary of the association which ran the allotments, and locked her in a shed. 

It is claimed he savagely battered her then strangled her with a lawn mower cord to prevent her from telling police about the assault. 

Five months earlier he had allegedly clashed with Mrs Adri-Soejoko after she told him to shut up at the association’s annual general meeting, calling her a “******* bitch” before storming out. 

Prosecutor John Price, QC, told the Old Bailey that Mohammadi had shocked other plot-holders and distressed the secretary so much she was wary of him ever afterwards. 

Mr Price said: “He has shown himself very sensitive to any perceived slight, however minor, and is quickly aroused to behave in a way others have found frightening. 

“He is also capable of recovering his poise just as quickly and sometimes even of apologising. He is temperamentally volatile.” 

Mr Price said Iranian-born Mohammadi’s outbursts had been overlooked in the past. 

But he said there was no chance of him getting away with the assault allegedly committed last February in which Mrs Adri-Soejoko suffered a fractured spine, two broken ribs and a bruised face and arms. 

The victim was dedicated to the allotments in Colindale, North London, and lived nearby with her granddaughter Amber Tomlinson. 

Ms Tomlinson said her grandmother was fit and independent but had been affected by the row at the AGM in September 2016 at which “passionate” plot-holders were “talking over each other”. 

She said: “My understanding was that Rahim had been louder than the rest so my grandma said, ‘Shut up’, so she could chair the meeting, to which he took offence. He became heated and shouted at her. One of the insults he called her was ‘******* bitch’. 

“She was concerned. She told me not to tell the rest of the family about the incident. It was inferred that she didn’t want them to worry.” 

The court heard that before the AGM, Mohammadi and Mrs Adri-Soejoko had been friendly and he was known to her as “Little Puppy”.

But after the bust-up she allegedly felt unsafe around him and began to distance herself from him. 

Tyrone Smith, QC, defending, suggested Mohammadi had used the word “witch”, not “bitch”, in the row. 

The court also heard there had been problems at the site including plot-holders making allegations against each other, drinking, noise, theft and rubbish-dumping.

Mohammadi, of Bethnal Green, East London, denies murder. 

The trial continues.