LONDON (Reuters) - A man who strangled his wife in his sleep walked free from court on Friday after prosecutors withdrew their case against him.
Brian Thomas, 59, of Neath in South Wales, killed his wife Christine, 57, while they were on holiday in July last year.
Prosecutors had accepted that Thomas had a sleep disorder and so had no control over his body when he attacked his wife of 40 years while they were both asleep.
Thomas admitted being responsible but instead of charging him with murder or manslaughter, prosecutors had sought a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, the Press Association reported.
"The consequences of such a finding would have meant Mr Thomas's detention in a psychiatric hospital, but it is now clear that the psychiatrists feel that that would serve no useful purpose," said Iwan Jenkins, Chief Crown Prosecutor for Dyfed Powys.
"I must emphasise that the circumstances of this case are almost unique in the UK and there have been fewer than 50 instances recorded worldwide."
Swansea Crown Court heard that Thomas regularly took anti-depressant drugs which made him impotent, and he had stopped doing so before the holiday as the couple, who slept in separate bedrooms at home, wanted to be "intimate."
Medical experts said the sudden withdrawal of the drugs could have led to him having very vivid dreams.
The court was told the couple had been asleep in their camper van in a pub car park when they were disturbed by youths in cars performing wheel spins and so moved elsewhere.
However, Thomas then had a nightmare one of the youths had broken into the van and later woke to find himself next to his wife's body, at which point he called the police.
High Court Judge Justice Davis told Thomas, who had been in custody since January, that in the eyes of the law he bore no responsibility for what he had done and said he was a "decent man and devoted husband."
Thomas's brother Raymond Thomas said family and friends were delighted by the outcome.
"They were a loving couple and always like that together," he said. "He has always been a loving husband and a family man. This was a tragic, tragic episode and we are all very emotional."
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Steve Addison)
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