A MURDER victim suffered from "psychotic depression" and twice stabbed himself in the neck, a court heard.

Pavaiz Iqbal aged 46 was found slumped behind the front door of his home in Birkdale Gardens, Deane on December 18 2006.

Vladimir Brandejs aged 27, from Prague, pleaded guilty to his murder in June.

Jiri Motl aged 33, also from Prague, also stands accused of murdering Mr Iqbal in a bid to rob him in a joint plot with Brandejs.

Yesterday a trial at Manchester Crown Court heard a statement from Mr Iqbal's wife Izmat, who said she met her husband in Pakistan when she was 15 and he was 19.

She said she spent eight years trying to get a visa so that they could get married and live in England, where she was already living.

The couple were married in 1994 and went on to have three children, said Mr Neil Slewitt QC, prosecuting.

But due to the pressures of trying to find a good job and adjusting to English life, Mr Iqbal became depressed and started to drink and gamble, the court heard.

He started to work for himself as a builder but quickly became paranoid and told his wife people were "after him" and trying to kill him.

He was sectioned under the mental health act in 2004 after he went missing and was found on the roof of a house.

Mrs Iqbal said: "It was clear he was depressed but nobody was aware of how seriously ill he was until March 2005, he tried to slash himself with a knife."

The jury heard that Mr Iqbal's family found him trying to stab himself in the throat and that his young son had took a knife off him.

He spent the next two months in a psychiatric ward and was diagnosed with psychotic depression.

The court then heard Mr Iqbal tried to stab himself in the neck again in that same year.

Mr Iqbal was taken to Pakistan and spent six months with his family. He then returned to England in much better spirits, the court heard.

Mrs Iqbal that her husband's health improved a lot and that he was a lot more positive and less paranoid and was seeking more and more work as a builder and started to employ Eastern European workers.

The court then heard that Mrs Iqbal was introduced to Motl, known as George in November 2006 by her husband.

He asked her to buy flight tickets for Motl and Brandejs using her credit card so that they could return to the Czech Republic on December 19. The tickets were £228 each.

Earlier the trial heard that Mr Iqbal had been beaten to death in his own home by Brandejs and Motl using a mallet and a pan as they robbed him of £600 and his mobile phone. Brandejs and Motl had been working for Mr Iqbal as builders. The two men fled back to the Czech Republic but were extradited back to the UK in June 2007. Motl denies murder. The case continues.