A woman stabbed to death by her husband might have survived if she had received emergency medical treatment, a jury heard.

Dewi Hughes, 38, is accused of murdering his wife, Anne, 55, at their home in Twyford Road, Coldean, Brighton, in May last year.

Hughes has denied murder at a trial at Lewes Crown Court but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The court heard Mrs Hughes was stabbed in the back with a kitchen knife and her husband then tried to stitch up the wound with a needle and thread.

He contacted his GP's out-of-hours service just after midnight but police believe she may have been killed 18 hours earlier when neighbours heard her screaming.

Forensic pathologist Dr Vesna Djurovic, who carried out the post mortem, told the court it would have needed "severe force" to inflict the fatal wound, which fractured a rib bone before passing through the lung and then piercing the heart.

She said Mrs Hughes' life might have been saved if she had received immediate hospital treatment.

The doctor said Mrs Hughes bled to death from the stab wound. She would have lost consciousness after a few minutes and within half-an- hour she would have died.

The doctor said old and new scars and bruises were found on Mrs Hughes' body.

The court heard how Hughes was examined by a doctor after his arrest. He said he was an alcoholic and suffered from other ailments, including asthma and panic attacks.

He said he had been assaulted twice in the previous few weeks. He was mugged outside a hospital and hit on the head and also attacked on a beach two weeks before the death of his wife.

Following that attack, his GP had arranged for him to see a specialist because he may have suffered mild brain damage. He also told the doctor he had a history of self-harm. The trial continues.