A postman who stabbed his wife to death in their kitchen has been ordered by a judge to be detained under the Mental Health Act.

Harchand Sidhu, 57, killed his wife Rajinder Kaur Sidhu, 38, in April 2001 at their home in Kilmead, Northgate, Crawley.

He admitted a charge of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility at Lewes Crown Court.

He denied the charge of murder, which was accepted by the prosecution, after doctors told the court he was suffering from mental illness.

The court heard Mr Sidhu's sister had called at the house and heard Mrs Sidhu screaming: "Save me, save me," in Hindi.

She rushed to a neighbour's for help.

Mrs Sidhu was found dead. She had been stabbed five times in the neck with a kitchen knife.

Richard Carey-Hughes, defending, said the couple, who had married in 1989, had had a volatile relationship.

Sidhu's paranoid delusions had played their part in marital difficulties.

He told the court: "Whatever his beliefs may be about what happened in the kitchen of his home, he has exhibited remorse and distress."

Judge Richard Brown told Sidhu: "Your horrendous violence on that day has not only deprived her your wife of her life but taken a mother from her children and a daughter and sister away from her family.

"I am satisfied you are suffering from a mental illness, a chronic paranoid disorder, and it is appropriate for you to be detained in hospital for treatment.

"I am satisfied to protect the public from serious harm it is necessary to impose a restriction order without limit of time."