Coma man awoke to be told: Your wife doped your wine

Lee Knight, 37, became "gravely ill" after swallowing the liquid, which was allegedly poured into wine and other drinks.

He was diagnosed with kidney failure, and developed neurological problems, causing loss of sight and hearing and internal bleeding.

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His wife Kate Knight, 28, told a neighbour she stood to gain £250,000 in life insurance payouts after his death, the jury at Stafford Crown Court has earlier been told.

Yesterday Mr Knight was led into court by two professional helpers and had hearing aids in each ear.

Judge Simon Tonking told the jury to treat Mr Knight in the same way as any other witnesses, to put any sympathies for his condition aside and focus on the content of his evidence.

The court was told Mr Knight has some level of hearing, but prosecution and defence barristers stood just a few feet away from him to ask questions.

When he was unable to hear, one of his helpers leaned to within a few inches of his ear and repeated the question.

Mr Knight, a former mechanic at the JCB plant in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, said he unexpectedly fell ill in April 2005 with stomach cramps and went to see his doctor.

"My doctor told me to go home and drink as much fluids as I could," he said.

"I couldn't drink much because I kept being sick."

He then went to see an emergency doctor before being referred to hospital where he ended up in a coma.

He told the court he first heard the allegations that it was his wife who poisoned him when he woke up in the hospital 16 weeks later.

"I had no suspicions until I came round that Kate had done anything to cause the illness," he said.

He said his mother had asked him if he knew anything about antifreeze in red wine and he replied: "I knew nothing about it at all."

Mr Knight confirmed a number of people, including his mother Annette, told him his wife had poisoned him.

The plot came to light after a neighbour of the couple, Sarah Johnson, discovered that Mr Knight was in intensive care, the court has heard.

Miss Johnson told his niece that Kate Knight had asked her if she knew where to find a hitman and confided that her husband's employers would pay out the six-figure sum in the event of his death.

Miss Johnson was subsequently interviewed by police.

The poisoning - which his wife allegedly researched on the internet - also left Mr Knight reliant on kidney dialysis.

Anti-freeze contains the potentially fatal chemical ethylene glycol.

When Knight was arrested in May 2005, police searched their home in Weston Park, Stoke-On-Trent and discovered a bottle of Tesco antifreeze.

Mr Knight told the court he had never bought anti-freeze from Tesco because he got a discount at two motor accessory companies.

His wife, now of Moreton, Wirral, denies attempted murder.

The trial continues.