A WINSFORD pensioner who beat his wife to death following a row over their heating bill has failed to persuade top judges his sentence was too harsh.

Douglas Bailey attacked 82-year-old Hazel Bailey with a walking stick at their bungalow, Talybont, in Rilshaw Lane on September 7, 2012.

The 80-year-old was imprisoned for five years at Chester Crown Court after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility in October 2013.

Last Friday, May 2, Bailey's legal team attempted to have the pensioner’s sentence reduced.

But Mr Justice Simon, sitting with Lady Justice Sharp and Judge Eleri Rees, rejected the challenge.

"This was not the first act of domestic violence Mrs Bailey had endured at his hands," said Judge Rees.

Though Bailey's dementia was a ‘strong mitigating factor’, she added: "This assault was protracted and she would have known it was her husband who was assaulting her.

"This was a sustained, unprovoked and fatal assault carried out on his victim while in temper and while she was on or near her bed at the time.

"We do not accept that five years was wrong in principle or manifestly excessive."

Bailey had been married to Hazel for 45 years.

He answered the door to window cleaners with blood stained hands the morning after the attack. Hazel’s body was later discovered in the couple’s bedroom with 59 separate injuries.

During Bailey’s initial conviction, Chester Crown Court heard that the retired joiner had developed an ‘obsession’ to save money that led to conflict over the heating bill.