A PHARMACIST accused of murdering his wife has admitted telling lies to police about the final 42 minutes he spent with his wife.

Mitesh Patel said he panicked and thought "I was going to get the blame for something I haven't done" after finding the body of his wife, Jessica.

Mrs Patel died at the couple's home in Middlesbrough in May after being strangled and suffocated by a Tesco bag for life.

Mr Patel denies murder and says he knew nothing about her death saying discovered her body after a burglary at their Linthorpe home.

However, the prosecution allege Mr Patel faked the burglary and killed his wife himself.

Mr Patel told a jury at Teesside Crown Court he started to "believe his own lie" about his account of what happened on the evening of May 14.

He originally told police and his family he hadn't seen his wife that evening, was at home alone and then went for a walk.

But he told the court he did, in fact, see his wife that evening and they spent time talking in the kitchen and the living room and were "settling down" for an evening together.

Prosecutor Nicholas Campbell asked Mr Patel if it was his evidence that he continued to lie because it was "set in stone".

Mr Patel said he carried on lying for "several weeks" because he panicked and "wasn't thinking rationally".

Mr Patel also told the court syringes found in his laptop bag were to be sent back to a manufacturer to test what was inside them.

Asked about the moment he found his wife, Mr Patel said he arrived home and saw "nothing suspicious" outside the house.

He noticed the front door was unlocked and the keys were on the floor in the hall. He then said he shouted for "Jess" but there was no answer.

He also told the court it was possible someone could be hiding in the hall cupboard, but he didn't see anyone.

Mr Campbell asked Mr Patel if his wife was alive, and he said: "I don't know - she was laying still" and he "couldn't tell" if she was breathing.

Mr Campbell asked why he had phoned the police first rather than the ambulance service.

"If it was a possibility she was alive why didn't you call for an ambulance?

He said: "I rang 999 - I didn't know what I was ringing for.

"I was panicked and scared, I didn't know what I was doing."

Mr Campbell asked why Mr Patel hadn't performed CPR on his wife.

"You were trying to save the woman you loved, why did you not attempt CPR?"

Mr Patel said: "I'm not a doctor, I'm a pharmacist. I put her in he recovery position, I checked her pulse, I cleaned her mouth, what more was I supposed to do?"

"Kiss of life, heart compressions," said Mr Campbell.

"I suggest you already knew your wife was dead. Why waste trying to revive the dead?"

"That is not true," said Mr Patel.

Mr Patel said he had knocked on his neighbour's door and had a "quick" look upstairs because he thought there had been an intruder, but did so before he called 999.

Asked why he didn't call the emergency services first, Mr Patel said it was a matter of "seconds" and he wanted to be with his wife when he called.

Mr Campbell described Mr Patel's continued lie to the police that he hadn't seen his wife that evening as the "big lie" and he had been "spinning some tale" for his and Mrs Patel's family.

He also told Mr Patel he had "deprived" his defence by not mentioning the 42 "happy and normal" minutes with his wife.

"I lied and felt I had to carry on with it," said Mr Patel.

"I had a choice but in my head I thought I have to carry on with it. I was feeling s**t."

Mr Patel denied Mr Campbell's suggestion that he was desperate to speak to his "soul mate" Amit following his wife's death, adding he had all the "support" he needed from his family.

He also said he "couldn't recall" making internet searches about "how to kill your wife".

Mr Patel denied a series of allegations put to him by Mr Campbell, including that he subdued his wife by injecting her with insulin on the night he killed her, that he staged a burglary and that he strangled her with a Tesco bag for life.

"I did not kill Jess," he replied.

The case was adjourned until Monday