A man stabbed his wife to death and then tried to stitch up the wound with a needle and thread, a court has been told.

Dewi Hughes, 38, is accused of using a kitchen knife to kill his 55-year-old wife Anne at their home in Twyford Road, Coldean, Brighton, in May last year.

Hughes has denied murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

He is accused of killing his wife and then lying to cover up his actions, saying she had accidentally slipped on oil spilt on the kitchen floor and stabbed herself on tin opener.

The police say Hughes tried to stitch the wounds with a needle and white thread and also used sticking tape to hold together makeshift plasters.

On the first day of a trial at Lewes Crown Court today, the jury heard Hughes alerted the emergency services at about midnight on May 22 last year and told them his wife had been unconscious after a fall.

When an ambulance crew and police arrived they found she was already dead.

Anthony Scrivener QC, defending, told the jury: "This is not a whodunnit. He admits he killed this lady. What we are concerned with is the medical issue."

The trial continues.