Husband, 37, bludgeoned 4ft 9in Good Samaritan, 76, to death with her own walking stick as she tried to stop him killing his teacher wife outside their home just days before Christmas, court hears

A Good Samaritan who stepped in to stop a man killing his wife was herself bludgeoned to death with her own walking stick, a court was told.

Sandy Seagrave, 76, intervened when she saw Daniel Appleton, 37 beating his wife Amy, 32, on the driveway of their detached suburban home in Crawley, West Sussex, just days before Christmas last year.

Seeing the attack the tiny 4' 9' pensioner, who happened to be walking past, crossed the road to remonstrate with him.

He turned on her and swore at her and then grabbed her walking stick from her and beat her death with it, Hove Crown Court heard.

Jurors then heard Appleton, who ran a garage business, then turned his attention back to his wife, Amy, who was trying to hide.

Teacher Amy Appleton pictured at her graduation in 2010 with her husband Daniel Appleton

Amy Appleton, 32, and Sandy Seagrave, 76, had suffered catastrophic head injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene

He approached her and beat her to death with the same walking stick he had used to kill Miss Seagrave.

He then went back into his house and tried to kill himself, stabbing himself at least five times in the chest with a large kitchen knife, cutting his neck and slashing his thighs in an attempt to cut the femoral arteries.

Both women were both pronounced dead at the scene but he was rushed to hospital and survived.

Today Appleton went on trial for the double murder which happened just days before Christmas last year.

Dressed in a purple shirt and dark trousers, he admits killing the women but denies murder, claiming it was the result of a psychotic episode.

However prosecutors claim Appleton had taken a synthetic form of LSD and was high when he launched the attacks.

Daniel Appleton, 38, is above pictured outside court on October 24

Hove Crown Court heard that an interview with a psychiatrist Appleton admitted having taken magic mushrooms - a natural hallucinogen - years before.

However forensic searches of his mobile phone found that just 11 days before the killings he had searched for 'worse mushrooms, worse mushrooms trip, bad mushrooms trip stories and strongest mushrooms'.

Nick Corsellis QC, prosecuting, said hair samples and nail clippings taken from the defendant showed the presence of 25i-NBOMe - a highly potent synthetic version of LSD- and mephedrone.

Experts believe both drugs could have been responsible for his violent psychotic behaviour and may have been present at the time of the attacks on Sunday December 22 last year.

Mr Corsellis told the jury: 'Mr Appleton was experiencing a psychotic episode. The key question for you in this trial is: was his mental state due to the use of illegal drugs or was it as a result of a temporary mental breakdown which the defendant is blameless for?

'This is not a case where the defendant has had any previous reports or diagnosis of mental illness or alcohol issues.'

He said: 'The defendant accepts he was responsible for the death of his wife and for that of a passerby who he had never met.'

The case continues.