A partner at one of Britain’s biggest law firms stabbed his wife to death in a "ferocious" attack just days after she told him she was having an affair, a court heard today.

Christopher Lumsden, 52, used a kitchen knife to stab his wife Alison in the neck, face and back as she sat at a dressing table in the bedroom of their home near Altrincham, Cheshire, on the evening of March 16 last year.

Five days earlier, on March 11, Mrs Lumsden, 53, had told her husband that she was having a relationship with a family friend.

Mr Lumsden, a partner at Pinsent Curtis Biddle in Manchester, admits killing his wife and says he was suffering "an abnormality of mind", but denies murder. A jury of seven women and five men at Manchester Crown Court must decide whether he is guilty of murder or manslaughter.

The court heard that Mr Lumsden and his wife, who had two children - 20-year-old Thomas and 17-year-old Kate - met in London in the late 1970s. He was working in the City as a solicitor, while she worked for auctioneer Sotheby’s. They married in 1981.

In 1985 the couple moved from London to Cheshire and Mr Lumsden began working for a solicitors’ firm in Manchester. They lived in a house called Oakleigh, a large detached house on Dunham Road in Altrincham.

Charles Chruszcz, QC, prosecuting, said: "For many years the Lumsdens had an active social life. He was a respected member of the legal profession, knowing many people, and his wife was a vivacious and sociable individual.

"They would often entertain at their house and play bridge with friends. He had always been a keen sportsman and Alison Lumsden played tennis and, at the time of her death, was still the social secretary of Bowdon Lawn Tennis Club.

"On the face of it, their marriage was successful and happy, and had been for many years."

The court heard that at the time of his wife’s death, Mr Lumsden was a managing partner at a large firm in central Manchester. Mr Chruszcz described him as a man who worked hard and worked long hours, with domestic and international clients.

He said: "He was well-known in the legal community and his abilities as a lawyer were highly regarded and sought after."

The jurors were told that things began to change in November 2004 when Mr Lumsden was diagnosed with a muscle-wasting disease in his back.

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