A MAN who battered his cheating wife to death told police he had no memory of the attack, a court heard yesterday.

Michael Luke recalled the confrontation he had with his wife, Johanna, in the moments before she suffered multiple head injuries at their County Durham home.

During a series of interviews with detectives, the 45-year-old landscape gardener said he remembered some of the things that happened afterwards.

But when Luke was asked about the hammer attack that killed the 37-year-old, he said: "I don't know, I honestly don't know."

A jury at Teesside Crown Court heard details of the six interviews Luke had with police following the killing in Willington last summer.

Luke told detectives his wife's behaviour had changed in the three months before he killed her, and of his suspicions that she was having an affair. He also said a letter from Mrs Luke's solicitors last year, which demanded a divorce, had left him absolutely gutted.

The court heard that Luke asked a friend to follow his wife on August 28 - the day after he received the solicitors' letter - because of his suspicions.

The friend discovered that she was at the home of her lover, Mark Cole, which was nearby, and Luke confronted them.

Mrs Luke was said to have ordered him to go to their home in Priory Gardens then followed him there where a row took place.

Luke told detectives that she taunted him and refused to accept his pleas to make a go of their marriage despite the affair.

He said he had picked up a 4lb steel paving hammer from the kitchen when he went for a drink and threatened to smash up her car.

Luke said he tried again to convince his wife to stay, but he was repeatedly brushed off and went for another drink of milk.

He claimed he returned and sat down to talk to his wife again, but this time she was bleeding.

Luke called 999 and told ambulance staff: "My wife, I've hurt my wife" but had no recollection of the call, the court heard.

Earlier, Home Office pathologist Dr James Sunter told the jury that Mrs Luke had suffered devastating injuries in the attack.

Both Dr Sunter and forensic scientist Gemma Escort concluded that Mrs Luke had been struck at least four times with the heavy hammer.

Dr Sunter said: "It would seem the deceased was the victim of a single, sudden flurry of blows to the head.

"The injuries were devastating ones and there is no indication that any other medical management would have resulted in a happier outcome."

Luke denies murder but admits manslaughter.

The trial continues.