Killer tried to sew wife's wounds

A mentally disturbed man who stabbed his wife to death then tried to sew up her wounds has been jailed for life.

Dewi Hughes, 37, killed his 56-year-old wife with a kitchen knife at their home in Twyford Road in Coldean, Brighton, in May last year.

Lewes Crown Court heard how Hughes waited several hours before he called a doctor and then claimed his wife had fallen on a can opener after slipping on oil.

Police who were later called to the scene found evidence he had tried to stitch the wounds with a needle and thread and also used sellotape to attach pads to her body.

Personality disorder

A murder trial was halted on Thursday after prosecutors agreed to accept a plea of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The jury had been told that Hughes had a history of mental instability dating back to his childhood.

The court also heard he was an alcoholic who had been diagnosed with a severe psychopathic personality disorder.

Hughes was said to have been in and out of hospitals as well as serving jail terms for violent crimes involving knives.

Judge Richard Brown jailed Hughes for life and called him one of the most dangerous men ever to appear before the dock at Lewes Crown Court.