A man strangled his wife to death and then went to Costa for a cup of tea, a court has heard.
Stuart Robertson, 69, told jurors at Liverpool Crown Court. that he "felt a burning anger and rage" and wished his wife Dawn Robertson would "shut up". He said he then went to a Costa Coffee for a cup of tea before handing himself into the police station and telling officers: "You're never gonna believe this, but I've killed my wife."
Robertson says Mrs Robertson had been "abusive and aggressive" towards him and he became emotional in court as he said he was "disgusted" with his actions. He has admitted manslaughter, but denies murder and is currently standing trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
Giving evidence in the witness box yesterday, Robertson was asked by his counsel Stanley Reiz KC about multiple incidents which prompted the police to call on the couple's home in St Helens over several years.
These included an occasion in 2012 in which Mrs Robertson was said to have damaged their front door with a hammer after losing her keys, a drunken argument at their son's home later the same year, an allegation in 2015 that he had "pushed her into a fridge" and another in 2017 stating he had "grabbed her around the throat and threatened her with a butter knife".
No action was ultimately taken against either party in relation to any of these complaints. Robertson described his partner as having been "aggressive" and said her behaviour "steadily got worse".
He told jurors their relationship was "breaking down" in the early part of 2023 and added: "I stayed in my room all day and my wife stayed downstairs, we hardly had any contact."
The retired warehouse manager stated his wife, who he married in 1986 and had two children with, would drink "between two and two-and-a-half bottles" of brandy per day and said he had planned to move out of the marital address following a spell in hospital due to ulcers on his legs during February and April 2023, LiverpoolECHO reports.
The defendant said of the morning before Mrs Robertson's death: "She was downstairs in the living room. She'd been there since about 7am. I'd heard her go downstairs. When I got up in the morning she had a drink in her hand, a glass of brandy."
When asked how he felt having strangled Mrs Robertson after she had verbally abused him, he said: "Disgusted. I broke every rule I believed in as a human being. I'd taken a life. I had no right to do it."
Under interview, Robertson gave a prepared statement in which he accepted killing his wife but said he had "simply lost control". He later pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Prosecution counsel Peter Glenser KC added: "He says, by his plea, that although he was responsible for her death, he did not intend to kill her or do her serious bodily harm. He may say in the alternative that he suffered some loss of control, such that would reduce his culpability to manslaughter.
"On any view, the relationship between Mr and Mrs Robertson was deeply troubled. She was an alcoholic and was frequently verbally aggressive towards Mr Robertson. The police were called to their address on many, many occasions."
"He would be sober, she would be drunk. She would make false allegations against him, and her drinking seriously affected her relationship with her adult children."
Robertson denies murder. The trial, before the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC, continues.