A midwife murdered her music teacher husband and left him with 68 injuries at their heavily bloodstained home, a court heard.

Hannegret Donnelly, 54, admitted striking Christopher Donnelly, 55, with a rolling-pin at their house in Berryfields, Buckinghamshire.

The mother-of-four called police twelve hours after Mr Donnelly died of bronchial pneumonia on the bathroom floor on March 31.

Mr Donnelly, a biochemistry graduate, had his entire family in the house, the jury were told.

Prosecutor Eloise Marshall QC told Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court: 'In the last year of his life Mr Donnelly was subjected to repeated serious domestic abuse.'

Kingston-Upon-Thames Crown Court heard Hannegret Donnelly, 54, killed her husband Christopher Donnelly, 55, on March 30

She said the victim had 68 visible injuries, plus numerous other fractures.

She added: 'The majority of the injuries were caused by blunt force trauma, mostly to the head, neck, shoulders and back.

'The Crown's case is Mrs Donnelly murdered her husband by repeatedly inflicting injuries on him that resulted in his poor health and eventual death.'

The court heard paramedics felt the Christian family - who had become increasingly isolated - were strangely detached from Mr Donnelly's death.

Ms Marshall said: 'They noticed his head was covered in multiple wounds, gashes, about twenty in all.'

The defendant told the paramedics they happened two weeks earlier.

She said: 'I did hit him over the head with a rolling pin after a falling out.

'Christopher wouldn't have wanted to go to the hospital. He doesn't like doctors.'

Old blood stains from Mr Donnelly were found on the walls and ceiling by the front door, as well as the hallway, staircase, dining-room, kitchen, bathroom, radiators, furniture, window blinds and wall tiles.

Mr Donnelly was described as a 'talented musician' who studied at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama and played the saxophone and clarinet.

He met German-born Hannegret in 1992 and the couple's four children are aged between fourteen and twenty-two.

Prosecuting Eloise Marshall QC said the victim had 68 visible injuries, plus numerous other fractures. She added: 'The majority of the injuries were caused by blunt force trauma, mostly to the head, neck, shoulders and back'

'Their household was a complex and strange one and even though they seemed a conventional family over the years they withdrew from life outside and the children were home taught,' Ms Marshall said.

Family members described the defendant as 'controlling', with the couple having 'lost a grip on reality' and talking about 'living in end times.'

When Mrs Donnelly was asked by the 999 operator why she waited so long to raise the alarm, she replied: 'We wanted to grieve.'

Paramedics arrived at the cluttered home and felt a strange atmosphere, Ms Marshall said.

'The defendant did not appear panicked or distressed.'

They noted Mr Donnelly's nose was flat, with a large wound across the top and his face and ears were deformed.

The jury were told the blood stains were consistent with more than one strike from a blunt object.

Mrs Donnelly had repeated her rolling pin story to police but said it happened months previously.

Mr Marshall said: 'She told the police she hit him with the rolling pin in self-defence, adding: 'I had to defend my corner somehow.

'Even if violence occurred in 2015 as she said, it is minimal compared to the injuries she inflicted on her husband.

'He appears never to have retaliated when she inflicted these injuries.'

Police found Mrs Donnelly's diary which included an entry in January 2018 which translated as: 'I didn't let him go to the toilet.'

Ms Marshall added: 'This exhibits the control she had over Mr Donnelly.'

Mrs Donnelly has pleaded not guilty to murdering her husband on March 30 and inflicting grievous bodily harm, with intent, between March 30, 2016 and March 30, 2018.

The trial continues and is expected to last three weeks.