A British woman has been charged with murdering her husband after he was stabbed to death in Malaysia.

Samantha Jones, 51, is alleged to have knifed John William Jones, 62, during “a heated argument” on the tropical resort island of Langkawi earlier this month.

She was handcuffed and led into a court on the island by police on Tuesday.

The former insurance clerk, her face lowered and covered by hair, confirmed to a court official that she understood the charge.

Ms Jones, originally from Somerset, did not enter a plea as magistrates have no jurisdiction to try people for murder. The case is expected to transferred to a high court.

“She is very, very overwhelmed. It is her husband at the end of the day,” said her lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo.

She added: “She is also grieving for him despite the circumstances of the case but she is holding up.”

The next court hearing is scheduled for 29 November, when prosecutors are expected to provide details of the post-mortem examination and forensics.

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Mr Jones, a retired firefighter, was found dead with a stab wound to the chest on 18 October.

Police chief Mohamad Iqbal said following Ms Jones's arrest that she had “confessed that she stabbed her husband in the chest during a heated argument”.

The couple moved to the island, in northwest Malaysia, 11 years ago under the country's My Second Home programme, which gives foreigners long-stay visas.