A DEVOTED husband who cared for his wife for over 50 years agreed to kill her when she could not face life any longer, a court heard.

Preston Crown Court was told how Herbert Hartley, 79, tried to help his wife Catherine in her lifelong battle with depression but when her mental condition deteriorated she asked him to strangle her -- and he carried out her wish.

He then prepared to hang himself, but could not find the courage.

Hartley, who had admitted manslaughter, walked free from court on 12 months' probation after a judge told him: "Nobody faced with your situation could say other than 'there but for the grace of God go I'."

Hartley, of Geoffrey Street, Chorley, admitted the manslaughter of his 75-year-old wife.

Miss Kate Blackwell, prosecuting, said it was a tragic case. The couple married in 1947 and he devoted himself to his wife's care.

In January this year, Hartley rang the family GP who visited his wife. The doctor found her in such a state that a hospital admission was suggested. Neither the husband nor wife wanted her to go back into hospital. The court heard how over the previous six months Hartley had become more and more frustrated and concerned about his wife's condition. In February he called a relative, breaking the news that he had killed her.

The niece's husband arrived to find Mrs Hartley laid out on the settee, her arms across her chest and a towel over her face. Hartley was arrested on suspicion of murder and on leaving the house kissed his wife on the forehead and said: "You are at peace now."

Henry Globe QC, defending, said the couple had met while she was an in-patient at Whttingham Hospital and he was visiting a friend.

He had to agree to marry her in order to effect her discharge from hospital in the immediate post-war years.

Mr Globe said: "He agreed to do so, not out of sympathy, but out of love and affection. He assumed the role of carer and protector. He shouldered that, without complaint, for more than 50 years."

Those who knew Hartley had nothing but praise for him either as a friend or as a devoted husband.

The wife's mental health deteriorated and she became less and less able to leave the house.

Mr Globe said: "His own greatest punishment lies in the knowledge that he has lost the wife to whom he was clearly devoted and forfeited his own right to be truly at peace himself."

After the case, a solicitor's statement released on behalf of Mr Hartley said he wanted to thank everyone for the sympathy and support shown.