A PENSIONER who strangled his schizophrenic wife with his bare hands escaped jail today.

Weeping Mario De Paola, 71, of Barton Close, Worthing, walked free after a judge heard he had suffered 25 years of abuse.

Doctors said that nobody would have been able to cope with his wife Rosa.

Italian-born Di Paola snapped and killed the 69-year-old paranoid schizophrenic after years of caring for her with "awe-inspiring devotion".

The diminutive OAP reached the end of his tether when she attacked him after more then two decades of abuse and physical assaults.

Police were called to the couple's home last September after Di Paola rang his two sons Angelo and Antonio to say their mother was ill.

They found their father lying in the dining room mumbling incoherently after taking an overdose. Their mother's body lay nearby.

Di Paola's clothing was found wrapped in newspaper in a bin and a suicide note he had written claimed Mrs Di Paola "had made this happen".

Philip Katz, prosecuting, told Lewes Crown Court: "He said she had come at him with flailing arms and he had defended himself.

"He said he had been provoked over the years by his wife's behaviour and aggression towards him."

The court heard Mrs Di Paola was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic at the age of 45 and received intramuscular injections and anti-psychotic drugs right up until her death.

On at least one occasion she had to be put in a straitjacket and sectioned under mental health legislation when her condition became impossible to control.

Areport from the dead woman's GP concluded that "day to day living with her would be quite impossible for Mr Average".

Di Paola denied murder but was placed on two years' probation after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

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