A woman who watched her reclusive husband die after he took an overdose told a doctor she felt ''he had suffered enough'', a court heard today.

Jill Anderson, 49, was ''very upset'' but remained calm in the aftermath of her husband's death, Leeds Crown Court was told. Paul Anderson, 43, who was weak, vulnerable and in constant pain, took an overdose of morphine on July 17, 2003 and died the next morning.

Mr Anderson had suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) throughout their eight-year marriage, complaining of severe pain and becoming increasingly isolated and dependent on his wife, the jury was told.

It is alleged Mrs Anderson sat with her husband as he died and could have saved him by simply dialling 999.

Dr Angus Livingstone, who was Mr Anderson's GP, arrived at the couple's home in Galphay, near Ripon, shortly after Mr Anderson had died. Under cross-examination Mrs Anderson's barrister Paul Worsley, QC asked Dr Livingstone how Mrs Anderson appeared.

He told the jury: ''Mrs Anderson was very upset, but calm. She explained what had happened to me.''

Mr Worsley asked him if Mrs Anderson had given a detailed account of her husband taking too much medication.

He added: ''I think she said she didn't do anything then because she felt that he had suffered enough.''

The court heard that CFS, or ME, was not life-threatening and that Mr Anderson had a tendency towards hypochondria as a child and a young man. The jury was told Mr Anderson had an ''abnormal chronic anxiety'' about his health and had tried to commit suicide on previous occasions.

The court heard the Andersons would look up information about drugs on the internet and then request them from GPs, who often refused to prescribe them.

The jury was told that CFS, or ME, was surrounded by controversy with the medical profession disagreeing about whether it was a psychiatric or physical illness.

The Andersons refused to accept there was a psychiatric problem and missed a referral to a specialist in this area, the jury was told.

Dr Livingstone said he regarded Mr Anderson as a suicide risk but he could not recall talking to Mrs Anderson about the matter. However, he told the jury Mrs Anderson was an intelligent woman who was aware of her husband's past.

Anderson denies manslaughter.