A CONVICTED killer yesterday lost his behind-the-bars attempt to sue a health authority over the death of his wife almost 12 years ago.

A judge dismissed Stephen Hudson's claim for civil damages and said she was convinced staff at Sunderland General Hospital had done all they could for his wife.

But he now plans to seek leave from the Court of Appeal to challenge the county court ruling.

Hudson, who murdered a 40-year-old businesswoman just six months after his wife died of a heart attack, had claimed his wife should have been detained in hospital after she was rushed in by ambulance complaining of chest pains.

After being examined by staff, she was sent home where she died a few hours later from a heart attack.

At his original trial for murder in 1989, the court heard that 43-year-old Hudson had strangled his victim when she spurned his sexual advances.

He then burned her body and buried it in a shallow grave in the Sunderland area.

Hudson claimed at the time that he had lost control after looking at divorced businesswoman Christine Armstrong, of Washington, near Sunderland, and seeing the face of his late wife, Fiona.

He launched his civil claim for damages against Sunderland Health Authority in 1991.

He claimed Dr George Steel, who examined his 27-year-old wife, should have noticed a potential heart attack and kept her in hospital.

In April this year, Hudson, formerly of Carrock Court, Sunderland, was escorted from prison to represent himself during a two-day hearing in Newcastle County Court, before Judge Judith Moir.

Judge Moir reserved judgment at the end of the case, but yesterday returned to court where she dismissed the claim. Hudson was not in court.

In a written eight-page judgment, Judge Moir said she was convinced hospital staff had done all they could for his wife at the time and had not been negligent in their approach.

She said: ''Having reviewed the evidence very carefully I do not find anything to indicate that Dr Steel was in any way negligent.

''The classic symptoms of heart disease were not present and research shows that incidents of extreme heart disease in women this age are one in 50,000.

''Nothing could have alerted Dr Steel or the nurses who assisted him to the impending tragedy.