JOINER Edward Richardson told a police officer he stabbed his wife "in the abdomen" and then left her, murder trial jurors heard.

The 41-year-old Biddulph man, who is on trial for killing his wife, slashed his wrists and neck when officers found him near a farm in Oaks Lane, Congleton.

PC Andrew Cornall, of Cheshire Police, said Richardson was wearing shorts and a T-shirt and there was a "considerable amount" of blood on the clothing.

"I asked Richardson if he had done the injuries to himself, he answered he had," the officer told Stafford Crown Court yesterday. An ambulance turned up to take Richardson to hospital and one of the paramedics asked him: "Trouble at home?"

"He responded 'not any more'. I asked what do you mean? He stated he had had arguments with his wife and he had stabbed her.

"He responded that he had stabbed her in the abdomen and he had left her at her home address."

The jury has been told the defendant's wife, hairdresser Sarah Richardson, was stabbed 13 times in a fatal attack. The 26-year-old's body was found in a bedroom at her parents' home, in Lyndhurst Drive, Brown Lees, on May 12 last year. The couple split up around three weeks before Sarah was killed.

The prosecution alleges Richardson murdered his estranged wife in a "relentless and merciless" attack.

Richardson, aged 41, of Mayfield Road, Biddulph, admits killing her, but denies a charge of murder.

The jury heard that Richardson was treated at Leighton Hospital in Crewe for his self-inflicted wounds.

Three lacerations on his neck were stitched, as were a slash on each of his wrists. The injuries were ruled to be not life-threatening.

The trial continues.