A WOMAN whose husband is accused of murdering her in Zimbabwe had talked of paying him £5,000 to go home because she was sick of his abuse.

Ivy Sutcliffe, 61, emigrated to Africa in 1998 from Littleborough, Rochdale, with her then partner, Michael Bamford.

But a close friend told Manchester Crown Court she had confided to her that she had realised he was only after her cash.

Gina George, who now lives in South Africa, had become close to Mrs Sutcliffe after they met at a golf club in Harare. She said Mrs Sutcliffe had complained that all the 51-year old taxi driver wanted was `money, money, money'.

Mrs Sutcliffe told her he could be good company to go out with, but she had not wanted to marry him. She claimed he forced her hand by saying unless she agreed, he would leave Africa and she would not be safe on her own.

Mrs George told the court that her friend had appeared with a swollen face and bruising to her arms and legs on a number of occasions, and when questioned about what had happened to her, replied: `Oh, just the usual'

She said Mrs Sutcliffe had told her Mr Bamford had pushed her down the stairs, and had held her head under the water in their private swimming pool until she felt she was going to drown.

She said that he liked to drink, but would become aggressive and demand money from her.

She told the court that Ivy had told her, and other friends, that she was `sick and tired' of the way he treated her.

She said: "She bought him a car. She gave him £5,000 which he said he would get a good return on by investing, but then he told her it had been a bad investment and the money was gone.

"She said she felt like giving him £5,000 to get out of her life and go back to England. She said she couldn't stand it any more."

Mr Bamford, who denies murder, alleges his wife committed suicide at their luxury home in August 2004 by shooting herself in the head.

Mrs George said that on the day Mrs Sutcliffe died, she had received a telephone call from her, asking her to come over. She told her she had made plans.

She said her friend had been speaking in a whisper and said: `Please come over for coffee, I'm really scared'. Later that day Mrs Sutcliffe was dead.

Shirley Hargreaves, a neighbour of the Bamfords, told the court how Mr Bamford had begun tidying up after the shooting, as his wife lay slumped on the couch `gasping for breath'. She said: "He then tried to revive Ivy by yelling at her to wake up."

Mrs Hargreaves said she saw Mr Bamford pocket a small gun which had been tucked down the side of the sofa - later when police asked for the weapon his wife had allegedly killed herself with, he gave them a gun which she believed to be a different weapon.

Proceeding