Michael Carroll was a laminating machine operator at Mac Print Finishing in Peterborough, and had worked at the small business for 12 years.

On the morning of 24 May 2012, after becoming overwhelmed with money worries related to a £75,000 mortgage debt, he strangled 64-year-old Elisabeth Carroll his wife of 23 years.

Carroll, 60, is on trial at Cambridge Crown Court. He denies murder but has admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Mac Print Finishing senior partner Vernon MacFarlane told the court that when the normally-punctual Carroll did not turn up for work on time he had phoned him to find out if he was ill.

MacFarlane said: "I rang him and asked if he was well and he said no. I said ‘you'd better get yourself over to see a doctor’, and he said ‘it's a bit late for that’.

"I said ‘why, what's wrong?’ And he said ‘I think I've killed Liz’."

MacFarlane also told the court that he had noticed how stressed Carroll was about the debt, and had tried to help him by making an appointment at the Citizens’ Advice Bureau. But Carroll did not attend the appointment.

The trial continues.

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