KILLER dentist Colin Howell claimed the wife he murdered was a bad mother who he once found drunk and unconscious, lying in vomit, when she should have been looking after their four children.

The trial of a dentist and his ex-lover accused of murdering their partners in the North nearly 20 years ago has had to be delayed because of a hold-up in obtaining psychiatric reports.

A dentist accused of murdering his wife and his ex-lover’s husband is to be assessed by a psychiatrist in a fortnight’s time to decide if he is fit to face new questioning by investigating police, a court heard today.