A husband strangled his wife while dreaming she was a burglar, a court heard on Wednesday.
Brian Thomas, 59, and his wife Christine, 57, were on holiday in their camper van when he throttled her in the middle of the night.
The court heard Thomas "dreamed that a man had broken into their motor home", parked in a pub car park.
He reached out to tackle the intruder - but instead strangled Christine, his childhood sweetheart who had been his wife for nearly 40 years.
Swansea Crown Court heard Thomas suffered from a "chronic sleep disorder which meant he was not in control of his actions".
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Prosecutor Paul Thomas QC told the jury: "This is a highly unusual case.
"Sleep experts have been consulted and the prosecution accepts Brian Thomas's actions were involuntary.
"He could not be held responsible for his actions."
The couple, from Neath, South Wales, often went on jaunts in their two-berth white Peugeot camper van.
They drove 60 miles to the seaside village of Aberporth, Cardiganshire, on July 26 last year.
They parked outside the Ship Inn in the village and were seen enjoying steak and chips together that evening.
Mr and Mrs Thomas went to bed later that night and in the early hours the retired grandfather dreamed there was an intruder in the motor home.
The court heard retired Thomas raised the alarm from a public call box at about 3.30am.
Police found grandmother Mrs Thomas dead inside the campervan - she had been strangled.
The couple, who have two grown-up daughters, were due to go on a luxury Mediterranean cruise to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.
The jury was told the prosecution believe Thomas is insane and that mental illness caused him to kill his wife.
The jury were told they have a "straightforward choice" of clearing him of murder or finding him not guilty by reason of insanity.
Thomas, of Parr Avenue, Neath, South Wales, denies murder. The trial continues. - Daily Mail
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