A JURY was told yesterday that there was not a shred of evidence to link Christina Button with the murder of her husband.

In summing up at the end of the three-week trial, defence barrister Alistair Webster, QC, said there was no direct proof that the 32-year-old mother killed George Button, an electrician.

Mr Webster told Newcastle Crown Court there were no witnesses to place Mrs Button, of St Mary's Drive, West Rainton, County Durham, at the scene of the crime.

She had not confessed to any friends, made any phone calls or sent text messages at the time Mr Button, 53, was allegedly bludgeoned to death, he added.

Debt-ridden Mrs Button is accused of plotting to kill her husband to claim almost £450,000 in life insurance.

Mr Webster, who described Button as a normal County Durham woman, said: "Cases where a spouse is killed are rarer than hens' teeth.

"Millions of people are in debt, very, very few kill to solve it.

"It is dangerous to think that debt equals motive, equals kill."

Mr Webster told the jury it would be grievously wrong to convict her if Mr Button had been the victim of a hit-and-run car accident, as police initially believed.

Mrs Button's nephew, Simon Tannahill, 20, who lived with the Buttons at St Mary's Drive, is accused of bludgeoning Mr Button to death on a remote country road after becoming obsessed with his aunt.

Both deny murder.

The jury is expected to start its deliberations later today.