A young African wife confessed to murdering her wealthy East Sussex husband with a wooden pestle in the Gambia before setting his body alight, an inquest heard.

Kate West, 26, allegedly told African police she used a bundle of logs and petrol to set 76-year-old William West on fire before disposing of his body in the country.

Dublin-born Mr West, a retired property developer who lived in St Helen's Park Road, Hastings, died from a severe head injury.

He had been staying with his wife at their beach-side holiday home in Sanyang when he was bludgeoned to death.

Hastings coroner's court heard the Sussex man was hit over the head three times while he slept causing a massive brain injury - killing him instantly.

Home Office pathologist Dr Peter Jerreat said in a statement to the inquest that his injuries could have been caused by a wooden pestle.

Detective Inspector Paul Phelps was part of a three-strong team from Sussex Police who visited the Gambia to help local officers in the West African country with their investigation.

He said Mrs West, a mature student, told police that she and her husband decided to take a day trip from their home in the Gambia to Senegal by ferry on July 3 last year.

But during the course of their trip, she said he disappeared while she waited outside a store for him to buy some cigars.

After waiting outside for 10 minutes, she told police she went inside the store to speak to staff without success and continued searching for him.

Det Insp Phelps added that Mrs West said she then returned to their Gambian home in the fishing village of Sanyang, believing he may have caught the ferry without her.

Three days after she returned to the UK Mrs West went into her local police station in Hastings and reported her husband missing.

But after friends of Mr West's became suspicious she returned to The Gambia and was arrested for his murder.

Det Insp Phelps agreed with East Sussex coroner Alan Craze that "large parts" of her story failed to "stack up", and her account was treated with suspicion by police in Hastings.

"Inquiries revealed no such day trip to Senegal took place and that she confessed to his murder with a wooden pestle," he said.

"She then dragged his body down the garden, collected up bundles of logs, leaves and petrol to burn his body.

"The body was returned to the UK at a later date and dental records were used to identify Mr West."

Mrs West is on trial at Banjul High Court accused of her husband's murder.

The young defendant, who was arrested and charged with murder last July, has since been detained in a Gambian prison awaiting trial after she pleaded not guilty to murder.

The Mile II Central Prison on the outskirts of the Gambian capital of Banjul is renowned for being overcrowded, its low hygiene standards and the poor diet given to inmates.

At the start of the investigation forensic teams from Sussex Police travelled out to the small fishing village of Sanyang - where the murder took place - to help Gambian Police with their enquiries and scientific investigations.

Coroner Mr Craze recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.