Police who went to the home of a Felixstowe woman after she was heard screaming and shouting “no” in a 999 call found her body in a bedroom with a knife sticking out of her back, a court has heard.

When officers arrived at 67-year-old Jean Ryan’s bungalow home in Gosford Way they found her husband Shaun standing in the hallway with blood on his hands and when they asked if he was ok he replied: “Don’t worry about me, you’d better check on her,” Ipswich Crown Court heard.

An officer who went into the bedroom found Mrs Ryan’s body slumped on the floor with a heavily blood stained knife protruding from her back, said Peter Gair, prosecuting.

There was no sign of a pulse and when the officer told his colleague: “Its a murder,” Ryan had tried to get past the other officer who was waiting with him in the hall, into the kitchen.

He had thrown punches and sworn at the at the officers as they tried to restrain him and they were forced to call for assistance.

Ryan allegedly told the officers: “She deserved it, lying bitch” and mentioned his wife lying to him about money.

He also allegedly said: “I want the jewellery back. She won’t need it in the afterlife” and “she won’t be bothering me again”.

Ryan, 61, has denied murder on April 13 last year.

The court has heard that Mrs Ryan worked as head of accounts at a business in Felixstowe while her husband was unable to work as a result of head injuries which had left him with epilepsy.

Mr Gair said that in addition to the fatal stab wound to her back, Mrs Ryan suffered multiple stab wounds to her head, chest, abdomen, arms and legs and other injuries which were probably caused by punching or kicking.

A pathologist who carried out a post-mortem examination found that some of the stab wounds had been inflicted with “severe” force.

The court has heard that the defence do not dispute that Ryan caused his wife’s death and the issue for the jury would be his mental state at the time.

The trial continues.