A FORMER hospital chef accused of killing his wife has had a murder charge against him dropped.The Crown Prosecution Service is now pursuing a single charge of manslaughter against Anthony Morley, 42, after his wife's body was found at their house in Eagle Walk in Bury St Edmunds on June 24.

A FORMER hospital chef accused of killing his wife has had a murder charge against him dropped.

The Crown Prosecution Service is now pursuing a single charge of manslaughter against Anthony Morley, 42, after his wife's body was found at their house in Eagle Walk in Bury St Edmunds on June 24.

A post-mortem carried out into the cause of Joanne Morley's death found she died from a blow to the head.

At Ipswich Crown Court the murder allegation was dropped and a new charge of manslaughter was put to Morley.

From the dock, Morley denied the charge and will now stand trial at the Crown Court in April next year.

A friend of Morley, who was in court to hear the alternative charge being put to the former chef at West Suffolk Hospital, said he had been unable to get a new job since losing his hospital post after the death of his wife, with whom he had one child.

The friend said he had been for a number of jobs, including a tea boy post, but had been unsuccessful because of the ongoing criminal proceedings against him.

Since his son was charged, Morley's father Aubrey has his maintained his innocence.

He said: “Tony is such a lovely guy. He is hard-working and does not deserve to be in the muddle he is in.

“We are a very close father and son, and this situation is so sad.

“He has told me he has not done anything wrong. I believe he would have told me the truth if he had done this.”