Worcestershire man 'killed wife after New Year's Eve row'
A man stabbed his wife to death after taking part in a drinking game on New Year's Eve, a court heard.
David Clark, 49, who denies murder, allegedly dialled emergency services nine minutes before midnight and said: "I am sorry, I have killed my wife." Melanie Clark, 44, was found at their home in Cloverdale, Stoke Prior, near Bromsgrove, the court was told. It heard that during an argument she told her husband she wanted him to leave their home in the morning. Mr Clark, who was born in South Africa but has a British passport, repeatedly asked police to shoot him, Birmingham Crown Court heard. Prosecutor Benjamin Aina QC said the defendant, whose birthday is on New Year's Day, and his wife were both estimated to be more than double the drink-drive limit at the time of the stabbing. The couple had visited a friend's home, where they had shared three bottles of prosecco before playing a snakes and ladders drinking game, jurors heard. After they left their friend's property, the couple returned home in a taxi and started to argue. The prosecutor, who stated the wife was stabbed once to the chest, said: "It is the prosecution's case that Melanie Clark was killed by her husband following an argument. "During the argument on New Year's Eve, Melanie Clark had told her husband that she wanted him to leave their home in the morning." After being taken to Worcester police station, Mr Clark said he could not remember stabbing her. The court heard the defendant and his wife, who occupied separate rooms, used mobiles to send messages after returning home. After sending a message claiming his wife had previously had a sexual encounter with another woman, she replied she was going to call the police to remove him from the property the next day. The trial continues.