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A 74-year-old woman stabbed her partner to death after he urinated in her conservatory, a jury heard.

Angela Ayre killed live-in boyfriend Mark Evans, 54, after a night of drinking at their Bedfordshire home, Luton Crown Court was told.

The pair were both more than twice over the legal drink-drive limit at the time, at about 23:15 GMT on 8 March 2018.

Ms Ayre, of Redfield Close, Dunstable, denies murder.

Prosecutor Charles Ward-Jackson said a row broke out between the couple after "both parties had been drinking to excess".

"The defendant says what happened was an accident, but the knife went through skin and muscle, under the sixth rib and into the left ventricle of the heart," he said.

A post-mortem examination found Mr Evans had died from an "almost vertical" knife wound.

Giving evidence at Ms Ayre's trial David West, a life-long friend of Mr Evans, said that about a year before his friend died, he had received a call from the defendant, a former Avon lady, saying she thought she had killed her partner.

When he arrived at their house however, Mr West told the jury he found Mr Evans coming round from unconsciousness.

He said: "I asked if he was okay. His response was that Angela was washing up.

"He went behind and her grabbed her breasts and she elbowed him in the forehead."

The trial continues.