A MOTHER-of-eight was strangled to death by her former partner during a violent row at her Netherton home, a court has heard.

Claire Harris had suffered 86 injuries - half of which were to the head and neck - when she was beaten up and throttled in January this year.

Rickardo Wilson, aged 50, who denies charges of murder and manslaughter, claims that he used reasonable force after the victim allegedly picked up a bread knife.

A jury at Stafford Crown Court has heard 44-year-old Miss Harris had wanted to end her 'volatile and dysfunctional' relationship with the defendant.

The couple, who had been together since 2014, split up in November last year and Miss Harris went to live with her sons in Dudley.

She had allowed Wilson to remain in the ground-floor flat she rented in Cinder Bank while he looked for alternative accommodation.

Jonas Hankin QC, prosecuting, said that the pair had habitually drank to excess and used violence against each other, adding that the police had been called to the flat on several occasions.

He said a friend of Miss Harris later told police it was "a drink-fuelled, love hate" relationship which became aggressively worse.

Mr Hankin told the court that on January 23, Miss Harris had accepted an invitation to have a meal with the defendant at the flat.

He said the pair ‘had a bit of a party’ at the flat and a row flared between them following a complaint about loud music from a neighbour. They were seen struggling outside the property and she was shouting 'he's going to kill me'.

Mr Hankin said the victim was found dead on the floor of the flat by one of her children 24 hours later when Wilson was still at the premises.

The court heard Miss Harris had injuries to her arms, legs and abdomen and chest as well as deep internal bruising to her neck muscles, scalp and cheek bone.

Mr Hankin said that a pathologist could not find the definitive cause of death but suggested strangulation was the most likely explanation.

"The defendant must have struck her about the face and head more than once but Wilson has offered no explanation for those injuries and has denied striking her," said Mr Hankin.

“In all likelihood he lost his temper because she was leaving the flat that evening or said their relationship was over.

"His anger is responsible for what he did and, in the heat of it, strangled her to death deliberately," he alleged.

Mr Hankin suggested Miss Harris had not been a threat to Wilson and, if she picked up the knife, she did so in response to the threat posed by him.

"He knew it was murder and concealed the details from the emergency services and her family," he claimed.

Mr Hankin said that Wilson admits grabbing the victim round the neck while dragging her to the floor but told police he thought she had been knocked out when she went limp.

He had left her where she lay while he watched television before he realised she was not breathing and attempted artificial respiration but did not call the emergency services.

Wilson was seen twice on CCTV going out to buy beer that night and he was still at the premises when one of Miss Harris' children came to the flat and found her body.

The trial continues.