'Pool torture' before wife's gunshot death

A taxi driver accused of shooting his wife dead Zimbabwe had once 'held her’ under water until she passed out, a court heard.

Ivy Sutcliffe, 61, was out cold by their swimming pool for several hours before stumbling into her luxury home in Harare and hiding in a cupboard, according to her friend, Mrs Burne.

Manchester Crown Court heard how one evening, Mrs Sutcliffe hid herself indoors because her lover, Michael Bamford, was roaming around the garden with an axe and pledging to kill her.

Mrs Burne told the court she and her partner, Graham Lorimer, drove to Mrs Sutcliffe's home in Harare and found Bamford at the gate with an axe propped against a chair.

Bamford allegedly threatened to kill both of them with the axe.

Bamford, from Church Street, Littleborough, denies murdering his wife and claims she committed suicide.

The trial continues.