A husband accused of murdering his wife knelt next to her as she lay dying and begged for custody of their three children, a court heard.

Brian Smart stabbed his estranged wife Sarah in the chest and neck at their home in Barton Village Road, Barton, Oxford, following a "chat" on January 5 last year.

Forty-year-old Smart admits manslaughter, but denies murdering her and claims diminished responsibilty for his actions.

Oxford Crown Court heard yesterday (March 13) that Smart sat next to his wife's body covered in her blood, muttering: "Daddy loves the kids. Sarah, wake up, wake up. Let me have the kids and then you can go wherever you want."

The couple had separated in December 2004 and Smart had been feeling suicidal and sufffering from depression ever since. He had wanted to get back together with his wife, but she had begun a new relationship, which he found out about.

Johannah Cutts, prosecuting, told the court that on the day of the incident, he had phoned her constantly throughout the day and later that evening called at the family home to see her.

At about 7.20pm, Sarah's mother called her daughter, but she told her Smart was visiting and she would call back later.

Less than 20 minutes later she was dead.

After the stabbing, Smart ran to neighbours David and Fiona Vintens' house, hysterically banging on the front door, telling them his wife had been stabbed.

They said he was covered in blood and smelt of alcohol and thought she had been stabbed in the street.

Mr Vinten followed Smart to the house, where he saw Sarah Smart lying in the hallway.

Mr Vinten broke down as he told the court: "As I went into the house Sarah was lying on the floor and Brian was by her side. "I could see a stab wound and then Brian showed me another injury.

"I tried to feel for a pulse on her, but couldn't feel one.

"Brian was muttering something about the kids. It was like a nightmare, but it was real."

Smart was arrested at the scene and later told police officers he had intended to kill himself, not his wife.

He went on to tell officers he was suffering psychiatric problems and claimed to have taken a cocktail of anti-depressants, headache tablets and alcohol that afternoon, but blood tests did not reveal excessive amounts of any of these substances.

Miss Cutts told the court: "Perhaps he was aware of what he had done and he was trying to avoid full responsibility."

The trial continues.