A 25-year-old loner set out on a campaign of murder stretching from the South Coast to London in an attempt to become a serial killer, the Old Bailey heard today.

Daniel Gonzalez killed four people, chosen at random, in three days. After his arrest he allegedly told police that he had wanted to commit at least ten murders to guarantee his notoriety.

Mr Gonzalez, 25, from Woking, Surrey, denies four charges of murdering two women and two men. The court heard that he killed Marie Harding on September 15, 2004, and Jean and Derek Robinson and Kevin Molloy two days later on September 17.

Richard Horwell, prosecuting, told the jury that it was accepted by the defence that Mr Gonzalez was the killer on each occasion.

The prosecution has refused to accept a plea of manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility. He has claimed that he was acting under the control of voices telling him to kill.

Mr Horwell said: "The details not only change from claim to claim but Gonzalez has in the past accepted that he has deliberately fabricated symptoms of a mental illness in order to avoid being sent to prison. We suggest the defendant is both untruthful and manipulative."

Mr Gonzalez was 24 and living with his mother at the time of the murders. "He was unemployed and has achieved very little in his life. The evidence suggests he had become bored and frustrated with his existence," said Mr Horwell.

"He said he had spent a lot of his time playing computer games and added that he could not cope with growing up to be a man. He was very much, on the evidence, a loner," Mr Horwell said.

On Tuesday September 14 he spent the day in bed, the court heard. The following day he was to commit his first attack.

"He was still in bed after his mother had left for work but left home later that morning intending to kill his first victim. He took a steak knife from the kitchen drawer and he must have decided to pursue his terrible campaign far away from home," Mr Horwell said.

He boarded a train for Portsmouth, alighting at Hilsea at 11.12am. About 20 minutes later, he attacked his first victim."

Mr Horwell said that Mr Gonzalez found an isolated area not far from the station where Peter King, 61, and his wife were walking their dog. "The defendant approached them head-on and attempted to conceal the knife, which he held against his leg. As they closed on each other, he lunged at Mr King. After a struggle, Mr King pushed the defendant away with his foot.

"Gonzalez lost his grip on the knife which he dropped. He stood up and said in a calm voice: ’Sorry, I am a schizophrenic, I can’t help it’. He ran away at some speed," Mr Horwell said.

"It was Mr King’s courage and strength which not only saved his life but that of his wife, who would undoubtedly have been the next victim if Mr King had succumbed. When later interviewed, the defendant blamed the small size of the knife for his lack of success. It was not a mistake he would repeat."

Mr Gonzalez then took a train to Worthing, bought another knife and selected another isolated area in which to attack his next victim. She was Marie Harding, 73, who lived in Highdown, Southwick and was walking to her daughter's house.

"Mrs Harding was attacked, probably from behind. Her body was discovered some minutes later. She had two deep penetrating wounds, one to her neck and the other to her back, either of which would have killed her," said Mr Horwell.

Mr Horwell said that Mr Gonzalez returned home, having "succeeded in the start of his gruesome campaign to kill other human beings and, as he would have seen it, on his way to becoming a serial killer."

The next day Mr Gonzalez went to London. He spent 10 hours drinking in pubs in the West End then took a bus to Tottenham, North London, in search of a victim, the court heard.

At 5am the next morning he spotted Kevin Molloy, 46, in the High Road and attacked him with both knives. Mr Molloy died on the pavement from wounds to his face, neck, chest and abdomen.

An hour later Mr Gonzalez butchered Derek Robinson, 75, a retired paediatrician, and his wife Jean in their home in Highgate, North London. He was arrested later that day at Tottenham Court Road Tube station.

* The jury was discharged after it emerged one person knew a relative of one of the dead people. The case is due to reopen before a new jury tomorrow.

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