A man charged with murdering his wife had attacked her with a knife six months before she died, a jury has heard.

After the earlier incident Anne Hughes complained to police that her husband Dewi Hughes had threatened to kill her at their home in Brighton.

Hughes, 38, was charged with assault and remanded in custody at Lewes jail.

But days later she said she wanted police to drop the charges because she believed he had suffered enough.

In May last year Mrs Hughes, 55, was found dead by paramedics called to the home the couple shared in Twyford Road, Coldean.

She had been stabbed in the back with a kitchen knife in an attack that was so forceful the blade had broken a rib, moved through her lung and pierced her heart.

A jury at Lewes Crown Court heard Hughes had attempted to stitch up the wound with a needle and thread.

Hughes, an alcoholic, has denied murdering his wife but has admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

During the trial, the prosecution has alleged that Mrs Hughes's husband dominated and bullied her.

The court heard there had been violent rows at the couple's home and the police had been called to their one-bedroom rented flat a number of times.

In a statement to police in November 2001, Mrs Hughes told how the couple had returned home from the pub one night when, she said, Hughes suddenly became aggressive and punched her in the mouth.

Her statement, which was read out at the trial, said: "He stood in front of me and said, 'I am going to kill you'. I noticed he had a knife in his hand. He stabbed at me twice."

She said she was wounded in the arm and when she turned away from him he stabbed her in the right shoulder.

She went on: "He then put his arm around my head and mouth very tight. I feared for my life."

Murs Hughes was taken to hospital and had stitches.

At 6am on May 22 neighbours heard her screaming, the jury was told.

About 18 hours later, Hughes contacted his GP's out-of-hours emergency service and said she was unconscious after accidentally slipping on spilled oil in the kitchen and stabbing herself on a tin opener.

The trial continues.