The trial of a former Suffolk sub-editor accused of murdering his wife in Fiji has begun.

Raymond Singh, who worked for the East Anglian Daily Times from October 2004 to January 2007, is charged with stabbing to death his wife Wendy on 11 May last year.

British national Mrs Singh, 39, is believed to have been found in a pool of blood in the couple’s home, in the Fijian capital Suva.

The pair moved to Fiji with their two young children and Wendy’s teenage son from a previous marriage in 2007 so they could be closer to Singh’s family.

State prosecutor Aca Raiyawa told the Fijian High Court: “The accused on the early hours of 11 May, 2008, in cold blood, inflicted multiple stab wounds on Wendy Linda Singh’s body and throat causing her to go into hemorrhagic shock, and instantly killed her.

“We want to show that the accused is not fit to be among members of the society.”

Mr Raiyawa said the couple were in a cafe the previous day when they had an argument over inheritance.

At a restaurant later the same evening, the argument intensified and Singh scuffled with his 15-year-old stepson George Barrot.

A neighbour of the couple Tomasi Bulai told the court on the night of 10 May he could hear the couple arguing.

Mr Bulai said: “My wife called me to the balcony and after she had heard Wendy Linda Singh shout out ‘please stop stop’, I could see Raymond moving in the house.

“He came out with the baby in his arms with the three-year-old following him and drove off with them.

“I came down to the driveway and saw Wendy Linda lying on the floor face up, that’s when I called the police.”

The defence opposed the prosecution’s use of a caution interview as evidence.

Defence counsel Haroon Ali Shah said Singh had not made any statement to police and there were no notes or written statements to show an under-caution interview had taken place.

Singh, who was 29 at the time of his wife’s death, denies murder and the trial continues.