A British man living in Italy admitted stabbing his partner to death, claiming he did so after she accused him of cheating on her.

Michael Whitbread, 75, told the court he could not remember how many times he stabbed fellow Briton Michele Faiers, 66, in October 2023.

The couple lived in a renovated cottage in Verratti, a remote village in Abruzzo, at the time of the murder, The Times reported.

Whitbread fled the scene and drove back to the UK, but when Firth's body was discovered, his daughter alerted police to his whereabouts. He was extradited to Italy to face trial.

In her first statement on Friday, the former diving instructor, from Torquay, said she was a few months behind the scenes after she saw Fells patting a woman's buttocks at a party in 2022. Within months, he was accused of having an affair.

Whitbread, who denies cheating, told the Lanciano court the couple would have a heated argument over the incident. "There was a weird pinch to the head and then it got worse."

He said that on the night of October 28, 2023, Fiers woke him up and started hitting him, saying, "I hope you're dead."

Whitbread said he took a knife from the kitchen, handed it to her and said: "Kill me. I've had enough."

"Ten months later, I was accused of doing something I didn't do," he continued.

"She kicked me in my private parts and tried to push me down the stairs. I thought: She's going to chop me. That's when I panicked and grabbed the knife."

Italian police found Fels lying in bed with seven stab wounds to his back. "I stabbed her, I don't remember stabbing her how many times," Whitbread told the court.

He claimed that Fells' behavior before his death led him to attempt suicide.

The court heard Whitbread had been married three times before, two of which ended due to his extramarital affairs.

Fells' three adult daughters attended the hearing and comforted each other as Whitbread described how he killed their mother.

The daughters' lawyer, Nadia Germana Tascona, said after the hearing: "It's important that he pleads guilty; it's something he never did. This is very important for Michelle's daughters. It’s very important because it’s a way to start over.”

The trial continues, with the judge ordering a psychological evaluation of Whitbread.