Pensioner accused of confessing friend's murder to his cats is cleared by jury

Police claimed retired lorry driver David Henton, 73, brutally bludgeoned Joyce Sutton to death after "snapping" in January 2006.

But a jury today cleared him after hearing detectives secretly bugged his home and car and apparently caught him confessing murder to pets Twinkie and Pudsey.

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After the not-guilty verdict was delivered Mr Henton hobbled out of the court dock and hugged members of the jury who had deliberated for 12 hours.

He was allegedly taped telling his long-haired Persians: "They know I did it, see?

"Bloody woman...it's too much, too much. I had to do...about it. What can I do now? I hit my Joyce."

On another occasion Henton, who lived alone, was recorded saying: "I don't know if they can prove it. What am I going to say if they find anything," the court heard.

He added: "I did this to mummy, up there."

Henton, a friend of 30 years who spent every day with divorcee Miss Sutton, 65, had dialled 999 saying he had found her dead in bed from head wounds.

Officers found a glass panel in her back door in Skewen, Glamorgan, had been smashed and initially believed she was murdered by a burglar.

But they later discovered fragments of glass from the door in Mr Henton's car.

And the burglary theory was undermined when jewellery and more than £1,300 in cash was found untouched in the house.

It prompted police to change Mr Henton's status from witness to suspect - and take the unusual step of installing the bugs.

Mr Henton's barrister has called into question the relevance of the tapes and disputes the accuracy of transcriptions from them.

The Swansea crown court jury was told Mr Henton was devoted to Miss Sutton, driving to her home every morning to serve her tea and toast in bed.

He had a key to her house and sometimes stayed over, but always in a separate bedroom.

They enjoyed shopping together or driving around in his car.

But in the weeks before she was killed Miss Sutton had begun suffering from anxiety and depression and was spending all day in bed.

Prosecutor Paul Lewis claimed the pressure of caring for Joyce became too much for Mr Henton and he decided to kill her and make it look like a bungled burglary.

Mr Lewis added: "He was upset she was spending so much time in her room. She became a burden he could no longer bear."

Mr Henton declined to comment before he was driven away

The family of Miss Sutton were said to be too upset to speak following the verdict.