A jealous husband lured his estranged wife to their marital home and stabbed her to death after she told him she wanted a divorce, a court heard.

Abdirashid Khadar, 22, who denies murder, sent mother-of-one Amal Abdi, 21, a text message saying: "Honey come and see me at home."

When she refused, he persisted and told her that some of his family were visiting and he wanted her to tidy their flat in the Barton Hill area of Bristol.

A short time later Khadar used three knives to attack Mrs Abdi before dialling 999 and confessing to killing her.

Police found Khadar in the local area, where he told them: "I've got something to show you at the flat."

They took him back to the seventh floor property at Longlands House where they found Mrs Abdi lying in a pool of blood on their living room floor, Bristol Crown Court heard.

Kate Brunner QC, prosecuting, told the jury: "Police went into the flat. They were greeted by a horrifying scene.

"Blood was smeared on the walls and floor. They discovered the body of Amal Abdi in the living room, lying curled up in a pool of blood with large wounds on her neck.

"She had been repeatedly stabbed with a number of different knives.

"The prosecution's case is that it was a set-up, that the defendant lured her to the flat with a false story about his relatives visiting."

At a police station after his arrest, Khadar asked officers: "My wife, she okay?"

When told she had died, he replied: "Can you kill me?"

During interviews Khadar claimed that after he arrived in the UK, his wife would shout and slap him and he would try to be tolerant but "his patience had worn out".

He said that his wife had been staying with her aunt and "had not been with me for some time" and that his memory was poor of events surrounding the alleged attack.

The court heard that hours before she died on the evening of July 26 last year, Mrs Abdi had demanded a divorce and was going to tell her family, saying: "I don't want you anymore."

Khadar sent his wife a text message threatening to kill himself and referred to the earlier argument, saying: "When you are saying you do not love me all my life and prestige dedicated to you."

Miss Brunner said: "If that sounds a little clumsy, it's because it has been translated from the Somali language. The meaning is clear - this defendant had been rejected by his wife.

"On the day of her death Amal Abdi told her cousin that the defendant was getting on her nerves and was jealous. She said they'd had an argument and that she wanted to divorce him."

The couple were both from Somalia and married in 2010, with Mrs Abdi moving to the UK and settling in Bristol, but Khadar did not join her.

They kept up a long-distance relationship and he moved to the UK in March 2015 - just four months before he is accused of murder.

Jurors heard there was conflicting evidence of how happy the relationship was. Family members thought the couple were happy but Mrs Abdi told a friend she wanted to separate but could not speak to relatives because she feared bringing shame on them.

Police recovered three knives from the scene and forensic tests showed the victim's blood was on all of them.

"A pathologist later examined Amal's body and she confirmed that she had died as a result of stab wounds," Miss Brunner said.

"One of the most severe had cut Amal Abdi's jugular vein on her neck and another had gone into her back and into her lung.

"The presence of a number of stab wounds to the back suggests an attack from behind or that Amal Abdi was trying to flee from the defendant as he was stabbing her."

The court heard that Khadar admitted killing his wife immediately after the stabbing but claims a defence of manslaughter by loss of control.

Miss Brunner said: "The prosecution's case is that this defendant had not lost control at all but that he attacked Amal Abdi in a possessive rage after she told him their relationship was over."

Khadar, of no fixed address, denies a single charge of murder.

The trial before Mr Justice Garnham continues.