A DEPRESSED Gwent cancer patient killed his wife of more than 50 years by strangling her at their home, a court heard today.

Michael Farley, 72, of Ash Grove, Caldicot, then tried to stab himself in the heart when he realised what he had done.

Cardiff crown court heard he told police: "Obviously I haven't got a heart" because he had killed his wife Shirley, 69.

The attack was sparked off by a disagreement over holiday plans and his prostate cancer, the court heard.

Farley, described by his family today as "a good man" who "'isn't well", was taken to Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital for treatment.

On the way, he said to a paramedic: "What have I done? My family are going to hate me and I am going to prison for life."

And he told a hospital nurse: "It's been bubbling up for a long time. I've been having hormones for prostate cancer. I don't know what's happened to my head."

Today, Farley, a a retired statistician who formerly work at the at Llanwern Steelworks, Newport, admitted his wife's manslaughter with diminished responsibility. He had denied a charge of murder.

Read the full story in today's City Final Argus.