David James Taylor, 33, allegedly confessed to his lawyer, Erick Sihombing, to attacking Wayan Sudarsa after suspecting the policeman of attempting to steal his girlfriend’s handbag.

Taylor, from Halifax, and his Australian partner Sara Connor, 45, have been detained by authorities on the popular tourist island in connection with the death of Sudarsa since August 19.

The officer’s body was discovered at Kuta beach on the south of the island two days previously after sustaining a series of head and neck wounds, BBC News reports.

According to ABC News, Sihombing said Taylor and Sudarsa had begun to “wrestle” after the Briton had tried to check the policeman’s pockets.

"When he is struggling with this man apparently he found this bottle and then he is trying to hit this man with this bottle," Sihombing said. "He found an old cell phone, he hit the guy’s head on the back maybe twice. There is a bottle and an old phone."

"After the fight was done, he went out on the street, he found his girlfriend on the street and then he’s just said to his girlfriend ’the bag has already gone so let’s go back to the hotel’."

Sihombing also told the Australian news channel that Taylor had admitted to hitting the victim’s head with a pair of binoculars and that he and Connor had burned their clothes after the incident.

"On Friday the 19th of August, they found on their clothes and trousers a stain of blood and hair, that’s why they tried to get rid of them by burning their clothes," he added.

Connor’s legal team have insisted she was not involved in the killing and issued a statement last week calling the accusations against her, “totally out of character."

The pair have been named as suspects in the murder case but are yet to be formally charged.

Indonesian police have 120 days to build a case before deciding if charges will be brought.

If found guilty the duo could face 15 years in prison.