AN East Lancashire travel agent was strangled by her husband because he did not want to share his £400,000 lottery winnings with her, a court was told.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that former DJ Michael O'Leary, 54, had been "very canny" about his 1995 winnings of more than £400,000.

His wife Michelle, 39, who worked at Fraser Eagle travel agency in Accrington was strangled by him after he learned of her divorce plans, the court heard.

Mrs O' Leary started to work for the company after passing a GNVQ in business studies, her daughter told the court.

When interviewed by police about the killing of his wife, O'Leary lied and gave the impression he had no money at all, but financial investigations showed he moved small amounts around regularly, it was alleged.

Shortly before her death the mother-of-two saw a solicitor and commenced divorce proceedings about which O'Leary learned.

Mr Charles Chruszcz, prosecuting, said that "divorce would normally bring an inquiry into the financial circumstances of the parties for a division of the spoils. Is that why he lost his tamper and did what he did that night?"

O'Leary, 54, of Rokeden, Newton-le-Willows, denies murdering Michelle O'Leary on April 6 this year.

Earlier Mr Chruszcz told the jury that the couple had married in 1982 and had two children at the time of the killing -- Catherine, a student aged 20, and Ryan, 16.

Things had not gone well in the O'Leary marriage in recent years and they effectively lived separate lives with separate bedrooms and they rarely spoke and any conversation tended to be acrimonious, he said.

On the day of her death Mrs O'Leary and the two children had gone out to look at alternative accommodation for her to move on.

That evening Ryan went out and Catherine was at her computer but did not hear anything. A friend of Michelle O'Leary's, Linzi Purcell arrived in a car at 8.45pm to pick up Michelle O'Leary to take her out.

She noticed that unusually the hallway and Mrs O'Leary's bedroom were in darkness.

Catherine had come downstairs and spoke to Linzi Purcell who suggested she look into her mother's room.

The next thing Mrs Purcell heard was a scream, the like of which she has never heard before. She rushed into the room to find Michelle O'Leary in her bathrobe lying on the floor of the room adjacent to the bed she normally slept in.

At the hospital further attempts were made to resuscitate her but she was certified dead at 9.30pm.

A psychiatrist examining him declared him fit for interview and took the view that O'Leary had a long-standing delusional jealousy about his wife, said Mr Chruszcz.

When interviewed O'Leary maintained his allegations about her adultery with huge numbers of men, with every man in certain streets and certain families, on a scale which might be considered quite unrealistic, he said.

O'Leary admitted causing her death but denied committing a crime.

(Proceeding)