A husband broke down and sobbed as he admitted stabbing to death his wife of more than 40 years because he believed she no longer wanted him.

David Gerald Ault, 68, had suffered a severe head injury which had caused his personality to change.

His illness led him to believe his wife Jill Rosemary Ault, 63, no longer wanted to be with him.

He repeatedly stabbed her in the neck and body with a carving knife in the bedroom of their home on Water Way Garth, Pollington, near Goole, at 8.40am on March 5.

Ault cried into a hankerchief at Hull Crown Court as he pleaded guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility.

The court heard he had fallen down the stairs of their home in 2006 and suffered broken bones and a head injury.

The accident led to a change in his personality and Ault spent months in hospital learning to speak, read and write again.

The change led to him having bouts of aggressive behaviour.

He also became obsessed with getting his wife to sign documents to release the equity in their three-bedroom home because he believed she did not want him.

The former insurance broker had even written notes saying "I will win. I will beat Jill" which were found together with a knife wrapped in an envelope.

Ault had first become violent towards his wife two days before her death, when he had pinned her to a chair and demanded she sign equity papers for their home.

Their daughter Rebecca, 38, had heard her mother's cries for help and pulled him off.

Ault left the home but returned later, acting as if nothing had happened.

Two days later, he attacked her with a knife before calling the police to tell them what he had done.

He claimed on the phone his wife had been trying to kill him since 2007 and they'd had an argument which had just "festered".

Mrs Ault was still alive when the police arrived and was able to tell them her husband had stabbed her.

She died shortly afterwards on her way to hospital.

Ault is due to be sentenced next month.

The couple, who used to own a franchise of Swintons Insurance, in Pontefract, had lived together in Water Way Garth for 24 years.

They had been married for 42 years and have a son Martin, 34, as well as daughter Rebecca.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Hibbitt, from Humberside Police's major incident team, said: "From the early stages of this investigation it was clear that Ault had killed his wife Jill.

"The issues around his mental state at the time however, proved more complex and required significant investigation before reaching this conclusion.

"This has been a very difficult time for their children, particularly as this event occurred in the family home and could not have been anticipated.

"Although their lives can never be the same due to the tragic loss of their mother, I hope the timely conclusion of the criminal case will help them in some small way to begin rebuilding their lives."