A former bus driver has been found guilty of choking his wife to death after mocking her in a “Punch and Judy” voice.

Keith Bettison, 73, killed 48-year-old Ildiko Bettison at their home in Chessington, Surrey, at Halloween last year.

On Tuesday, a jury deliberated for four hours to find Bettison guilty of murder at the Old Bailey.

The trial had heard how Mrs Bettison used to “idolise” her husband and would do anything for him.

But around two years ago, their relationship changed and the couple began drinking heavily and arguing.

The defendant crashed a bus while reversing and left his job before he could be sacked in June 2020.

The pandemic caused them to spend more time at home and things “became very difficult”, prosecutor Kate Bex QC said.

Neighbour Debbie May heard a lot of the couple’s rows because the walls between their houses were thin, jurors heard.

Ms Bex said: “Debbie May says that not long before Ilde died she had fallen down the stairs when she was drunk.

“She heard the defendant tormenting her by mimicking her in a squeaky Punch and Judy type of voice. She heard him call her a fat cow.”

On another occasion, Mrs Bettison told her she had thrown a mirror at him, which hit the front door instead.

On October 26 last year, Mrs Bettison had a black eye and told Ms May: “Look, he’s punched me.”

The night before she died, Mrs Bettison turned up on Ms May’s doorstep wearing a small nightdress and holding a glass of gin and tonic.

She showed her friend bruises on her arm and legs saying “it was him” before getting up to go home at around 11.30pm, the court heard.

At 1am the defendant called his daughter and said: “I’ve killed her. I could not take it any more.”

The defendant went on to ring 999, saying: “We had a fight and I think I’ve killed her, she’s dead.”

Police found Mrs Bettison lying semi-naked and collapsed in bed and she was pronounced dead shortly after 2am.

While in custody, the defendant said: “She gets angry and hits me and I have to hit her back, what can you do?”

Mrs Bettison had allegedly confided in a friend that her husband had previously put her in a strangle hold, with his arm around her neck.

Jurors were told this type of “carotid sleeper hold” could be how Mrs Bettison was choked when she died.

The prosecution claimed Bettison probably held his wife down from behind, for between 15 and 30 seconds.

But Bettison told jurors he only held her throat in front for a few seconds after she drunkenly accused him of having an affair.

He said he then got up and went downstairs, expecting her to follow.

The prosecution suggested that the position of Mrs Bettison’s body on the bed was inconsistent with the defendant’s account.

Bettison was remanded into custody to be sentenced on Wednesday.