Brian Blackburn admitted killing his terminally ill wife in a suicide pact

Retired nurse Margaret Blackburn, 62, of Ash, Surrey, had stomach cancer when husband Brian cut her wrists.

Blackburn, also 62, who served with Hampshire Police before retiring, admitted manslaughter and was remanded in custody to 14 January for reports.

Richard Whittam, prosecuting, said the Blackburns were a loving couple.

Blackburn was originally charged with murder but the Crown Prosecution Service accepted the killing had been a suicide pact.

Refused to seek help

Mr Whittam told the court that Mrs Blackburn suspected she was suffering from cancer but refused to seek help because her work in a hospice had left her with an abhorrence of surgery.

After her death it was found she had a tumour in a stomach and the prognosis for the rest of her life would have been "very short, very poor".

This is an extremely tragic case Surrey Police spokeswoman

Mr Whittam said that after the killing Blackburn rang the police.

"He immediately stated that he had killed his wife as part of a suicide pact," said Mr Whittam.

"The injuries he had made on himself confirm that they were a serious attempt to take his own life."

He said Mrs Blackburn had seen both her adult sons in the week before her death.

They were clear she was saying goodbye and that she meant to die.

Her sons were in court to hear the guilty plea.

After the hearing, a spokeswoman for Surrey Police said: "Surrey Police conducted a thorough investigation into the sad circumstances that culminated in the death of Mrs Blackburn.