Alcoholic Gerald Mooney was sentenced to ten years in prison yesterday for battering his wife to death.

Former hospice nurse Barbara Mooney was found with horrendous facial injuries at her home in Malthouse Road, Crawley. Her face had been stamped on and crushed, causing multiple fractures.

Her body was discovered after her husband confessed to a stranger he had killed his wife.

Mooney met 57-year-old Michael Bates in a Broadfield street and ended up staying with him after being invited to his home for a drink.

While there, he confessed several times to killing his wife and was finally arrested when Mr Bates phoned the police.

The 38-year-old's death ended a tempestuous relationship which had led to 64 calls to the police from the house between 1992 and her killing in November 1999.

Police found Mrs Mooney's blood-soaked body wrapped in a duvet. A post-mortem revealed she had suffered at least three heavy blows to the head and had died from a haemorrhage and the aspiration of blood.

Both Mooney, 40, and his wife were alcoholics and mixed with heavy drinkers in Crawley.

They had frequent drunken rows which often ended in violence. Most of the calls to police were made by Mrs Mooney who was no stranger to the accident and emergency department at Crawley Hospital.

Mooney was arrested 20 times and charged six times with offences relating to assault or criminal damage.

Yet police said few violent incidents ended in court because Mrs Mooney would change her mind and decline to take further action.

But what happened between November 27, when the couple were last seen at The Swan pub in West Green, until the gruesome discover of Mrs Mooney's body several days later, remains a mystery.

Throughout police interviews Mooney answered "no comment" to every question.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Eyre, who led the investigation, said: "There are no witnesses and no account given by Mooney to any other party as to how the assault took place. He provided a 'no comment' to every question."

When arrested, Mooney was described as "resigned and emotional". He was distressed and cried.

Mr Eyre said: "Between his arrest and prior to interview he made a number of admissions taking responsibility for killing his wife but after that refused to comment."

Blood-stained clothing and shoes were found in a Housing Association flat in Southgate which it is believed provided a bolthole for Mooney during their many rows.

Residents in Malthouse Road said the couple were the neighbours from hell and spoke of frequent police visits.

But Mrs Mooney's life in Crawley was very different from her upbringing as the only child of a middle-class family.

She was born in Singapore where her father was a civil servant with the Ministry of Defence. The family returned to England two years later.

She gained several A-levels and trained as a nurse. From 1984 to 1987 she worked at St Catherine's Hospice where she was said to be "bright and caring" and enjoyed playing the piano.

She left to work for The Lighthouse Aids Hospital in London.

Detective Sergeant Dave Wilkins, who was deputy to Mr Eyre in the investigation, said Mrs Mooney had been keen to work and several job applications for cleaning posts were found in the house after her death.

He said her drinking led to estrangement from her mother, now a 66-year-old widow, who had not seen her daughter for 15 years.

With her husband, Mrs Mooney worked as a part- time cleaner in offices in Crawley. They were employed by Limpio Cleaners in East Park, Crawley, for a few weeks before Mrs Mooney's body was found.

The weekend she died Mooney handed their keys back to the firm saying the work was too much.

Little is known about Mooney except he was born in Horley and married in 1997. He spent much of his youth in foster and care homes after being physically, sexually and emotionally abused by his father, who would often put rum in his drink.

By the age of 16 he had alcohol problems and at 21 he was alcohol dependant.

Mooney had denied murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

He was sentenced to a total of ten years in prison yesterday at Lewes Crown Court, six years in custody with four years on special licence release.