A MAN accused of fatally stabbing his common law-wife said her death meant he had “lost the best thing he ever had”.

Paul Smart opened up to a nurse who examined him while he was in police custody following his arrest on suspicion of murdering Angela Smeaton.

The 49-year-old, who was treated for an injury to his left hand, was asked by the nurse about his domestic circumstances and said: “I killed her, 29 years we have been together and she tries to stab me because of him.

“I have lost the best thing I ever had, the best part of me.”

Mr Smart, a steel worker, of Eddlestone Walk, Hartlepool, admits manslaughter, but denies murder and is on trial at Teesside Crown Court.

He is said to have stabbed Ms Smeaton - known as ‘Angie’ - 12 times in the face and neck at their home in the early hours of April 15 this year.

The couple had rowed about their son after earlier attending the funeral of the victim’s brother.

Ms Smeaton’s niece Natalie, who gave evidence, said the couple were “very drunk” after the funeral and said the 50-year-old victim, who like Mr Smart had been drinking in the Hour Glass pub, in Owton, Hartlepool, was in “no fit state”.

She also said “Auntie Angie”, who ran a fish and chip shop, had told her some years previously about two separate incidents in which she had been attacked by Mr Smart.

The witness, who became emotional during her evidence, said her aunt claimed Mr Smart had stamped on her head following an argument and also pinned her against a bathroom wall and threatened her with a knife.

Earlier the jury were shown CCTV of Mr Smart being booked into the custody suite at Middlesbrough police station following his arrest where he was accompanied by two officers.

The defendant appeared calm in the video and frequently stood with his head bowed.

When he was asked by a custody sergeant if he had tried to harm himself, he replied: “Not yet”.

Sixteen hours after his arrest Mr Smart was interviewed by detectives and said he had acted in self-defence after Ms Smeaton tried to attack him with a kitchen knife.

But after seizing the knife off her he lost control and “just snapped”, he said.

The trial continues.