Driving instructor Keith Elliott, 58, knifed his wife Rosemary three times, then phoned his brother Mervyn and told him: "I've killed her now. Here, speak to your lover", Preston Crown Court heard.

Mrs Elliott, his former driving school pupil, suffered a perforated gall bladder and collapsed lung in the attack, which happened while their two young sons were upstairs at their home.

A judge at Preston Crown Court, where Elliott pleaded guilty to attempted murder, described his actions as "callous".

The court heard on New Year's Eve 2007 that the father-of-two had discovered text messages Mrs Elliott had sent to her lover on a mobile phone.

He had gone out armed with a baseball bat and called on his brother to see if he could help him unblock the phone's code.

When he said he could not, Mr Elliott put two and two together.

The court was then told he went back to their home in South Grove, Morecambe and, armed with a breadknife, told his wife: "If you're honest I won't hurt you".

Roger Green, prosecuting, said: "She gave him suitable answers but he became increasingly angry and she became terrified. She began to scream loudly at which point he stabbed her three separate times.

"She had a fear she was going to die. He rang the police at 2.24am and told them he stabbed his wife. When asked if he had phoned an ambulance he said: 'No. Bye.'"

The court heard he then phoned his brother and held the phone to his wife's ear - with her barely able to tell him she had been stabbed.

Elliott kept returning to the room as she lay on the floor and asking: "Are you not dead yet?".

He then attempted to stab himself.

'Extreme provocation'

Defending, Mark Smith told the court his previous relationship had ended in infidelity and when circumstances recurred it had a "significant" impact on him.

It was by "supreme irony" that Elliott went to seek help from his brother.

He added: "He was under extreme provocation that night."

Judge Stuart Baker said he understood the crime happened when Elliott was "highly emotionally-charged", but said it was such a grave crime only a lengthy jail term was appropriate.

He said: "I have regard to the circumstances.

"It may be the case that neither of your children actually witnessed the offence, but at least one of your children came to the doorway and saw his mother lying seriously injured on the floor.

"While she was lying there you spoke to her and your brother in a way which cannot be regarded as anything other than callous."

Keith Elliott was jailed for 12 years minus 285 days already served in custody.

>> Vote in our latest web poll