Additional reporting by Emily Stott

The man accused of murdering his wife after fearing she was having an affair told a jury today of the moments before he stabbed her to death.

Jonathon Cudworth, 35, told Canterbury Crown Court how he had argued with barmaid Mika, 36, after she returned home from work and changed into a nightie.

He said: “She was pushing and prodding me and I grabbed her round the neck. She was screaming at me.”

Cudworth, who denies murder, said his wife then admitted having sex with a customer at the pub in Great Mongeham before saying she was leaving him.

The former soldier told the court: “I put my hand behind me, probably to steady myself and I came across a knife I had been using with apples earlier.

“I grabbed it and struck her with it. I don’t know where or how many times.”

His barrister Oliver Saxby QC asked if he accepted the pathologist’s evidence that it was four times in the front, back and her side.

Cudworth, of Mill Lane Cottages, Northbourne replied: “I accept that. I just lost it and struck...I stabbed her.”

Mr Saxby asked: “Can you remember what was going through your mind?”

Cudworth answered: “It just happened so quickly. “

He then claimed he went into the kitchen and vomited.

“I was just in shock. I then heard a bang and went back into the living room and found her lying near to a window.

“I then checked her pulse but I couldn’t find one. There was no sign of life. I was just horrified and in shock.”

After putting a T shirt and tracksuit bottoms on her, he then dragged her to the front door intending to put her body into the car – but realised it would be caught on a neighbour’s CCTV.

Cudworth said he then dragged her body into the garden and left it near a compost heap.

Mr Saxby asked: “Why didn’t you just call the police?”

He replied: “I wish I had just picked up the phone but I wasn’t thinking clearly. I don’t know why I didn’t.”

Her body was discovered days later dumped in a field near Eastry.

The trial continues.