A WOMAN who died during a bondage sex session may have suffered a fit, a court heard yesterday.

Norman Heaton is accused of throttling his 32-year-old wife, Jacqueline, and hiding her body under the stairs of their maisonette in South Shields, South Tyneside.

The 42-year-old had told Newcastle Crown Court they were in a strangulation game, but the grip was too tight and accidentally killed her.

He realised he had gone too far when she started twitching after their young son burst into the room.

Defence expert Dr Nathaniel Carey told the court yesterday that the description of her actions in the minutes leading up to her death implied some sort of fit had occurred.

He said: "It seemed to me like a seizure, not epilepsy but something that would occur to any one of us in certain conditions where circulation is restricted.

"It is not true epilepsy, but behaves in the same way."

Dr Carey was asked whether there were any pathological signs of intent to kill Mrs Heaton.

He said: "I can't see anything that allows one to decide between something done clearly quite deliberately, something done recklessly without regard for safety, or something which simply occurred as what might be classed as an accident in the course of sex play."

Mr Heaton denies a charge of murder.

The trial continues.