Pensioner, 74, bludgeoned his nagging 83-year-old partner of 40 years to death with a lump hammer

A naked pensioner bludgeoned his 'nagging' partner to death with a hammer after they rowed about straightening the duvet, a court has heard. Edgar Fairhurst, 74, battered 83-year-old Marjorie Elphick with the weapon before returning to continue the attack and make sure he 'put her to sleep'.

Fairhurst, a retired Beechams chemist from Bideford, north Devon, told police that his partner of 40 years 'goaded and irritated' him for decades', the court was told.

But it was when she asked him to straighten his duvet after going 'on and on' that 'something happened in his brain' - and he went to the bedroom to fetch the hammer.

The court was told that Fairhurst then smashed the mother-of-one over the head ten times as she tried to defend herself from the attack. After he was arrested, he told police: 'You can't just kill someone because they are irritating you.'

Fairhurst is now on trial at Exeter Crown Court for murder. He admits manslaughter but denies the more serious charge on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Opening the trial, prosecutor Paul Dunkels QC, said there was no suggestion that Fairhurst had ever been violent towards Ms Elphick although he could be unpleasant when he was drunk.

On the night of the killing, on December 30, the couple had been in bed naked together when he snapped. 

The jury was told that he grabbed the hammer - which he kept as a weapon against potential intruders -  and battered her several times, leaving her unconscious.

Forensic experts said Ms Elphick was lying in bed when the attack began but then stood up and kneeled on the floor as she tried to fight off Fairhurst.

The jury was told that, after attacking her again to 'make sure' she was dead, Fairhurst called 999 to say that he had beaten his partner to death after an argument.

He allegedly said: 'She was goading me. I beat her to a pulp. It's a mess up there.'   

Fairhurst then got dressed before turning on the gas in a failed suicide bid.

The court was told how, on the way to the police station, he told officers: 'Marjorie did not deserve to die. She was good. You can't just kill someone because they are irritating you.'

In police interview, he told officers that their relationship was good but both had health issues and arguments. 

Referring to the second attack, he then allegedly told them: 'The only humanitarian thing to do was to out her out of her agony and not leave her as a semi mental cripple and make sure she was dead.' 

He then added: 'I deserve to go to prison for life. I have destroyed the only person I loved and needed in a moment of insanity.' 

Mr Dunkels said the jury will hear from two psychiatrists about his mental state at the time and whether he was suffering from diminished responsibility.

They Crown say his claim that she had goaded him for years was a 'gross overstatement'. 

The prosecutor said: 'He told police why he killed her because she was goading him and he was irritated by what she was saying to him. He decided to silence her.' 

The victim's son Keith Chatfield told the court that his mother was a 'calm, kind and generous' lady who was never unkind to Fairhurst.

He said his mother was sociable and had friends whereas Fairhurst had no family or friends and drank too much.- Dailymail