A PENSIONER who strangled his housebound wife just days before they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, walked free from court yesterday.

Described as the "perfect couple", Jacob Elliott, 82, and his wife, Elizabeth, 79, enjoyed a happy marriage for almost 50 years until last December.

Yesterday, Elliott pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was given a suspended jail sentence.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how the former miner, of Sunniside, Gateshead, had been suffering from severe depression in the months leading up to his wife's death.

Brian Forster, prosecuting, told the court: "Friends described Jake and Betty as the perfect couple, who got on well with each other.

"The defendant and his wife had become troubled by ill health, and the deterioration of his health was noticed in the months coming up to the unfortunate events.

"On December 6, he went missing and his wife became very concerned that something had happened.

"He couldn't be found in the immediate area but was found lying near a railway bridge, suffering from hypothermia."

Tragedy struck eight days later when Elliot strangled his wife in the middle of the night after she woke from her sleep.

"At 3.20am, police received a telephone call from the defendant who said he had murdered his wife," said Mr Forster.

"He told police that his wife had woken up and moaned something, and he choked her."

The court also heard how Mrs Elliott had been increasingly disabled by arthritis and had been housebound for some time.

John Evans, defending, told the court: "In recent months, Mrs Elliott had become more and more dependant on her husband due to arthritis in her knee, and both were hoping to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.

"It is a tragedy that his twilight years have been blighted by this and, given that he was ill at the time, no good whatsoever would come out of sending him to prison."

The prosecution accepted Elliot's plea on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Sentencing him, Judge David Hodson said: "On December 6, in an incident clouded by mystery, you went missing.

"Your son said you had snapped, but no one will ever know why.

"Then, just eight days after that, in the middle of the night, clearly when you were suffering from a depressive episode, you strangled your wife to death."

Elliott, who lost his first wife shortly after the birth of their son, was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years.