A man on trial for murder said he "lost control" when he stabbed his wife to death in Enfield last year.

Minta Adiddo, 38, stabbed Akua Agyeman 15 times in Morris Court, Rigby Place in Enfield Island Village on November 6, 2012.

The defendant has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter.

Giving evidence on Monday at the Old Bailey, Mr Adiddo spoke about his wife’s alleged affair with neighbour Oledapo Etti-Williams.

Adiddo said the thought of his wife having an affair with Mr Etti-Williams was "burning" him on the inside.

He described events he claims took place on October 4, 2012.

He said: "I was at home, watching TV around 2.25pm-2.30pm and I saw a text on my wife’s phone.

"I saw the text, it said ‘Hi baby, where are you now?’ "I was in shock, I left it and a few more messages came through – ‘Hi baby is your husband home’ and ‘My wife is already out so I can come over’."

The defendant then told the jury how he hid the phone when his wife left the house that afternoon.

He said: "I didn’t give my wife her phone when she went out. I was anxious to find out who this was texting my wife. So I played along to the number saying I was my wife.

"I text the number and said: ‘I want to know – you have a wife and I also have a husband, why do you want to see me?’ "He text back saying: ‘You are special to me and I love the way you scream when we have sex.’ "I was crying, I responded to the text telling the person to come over, I wanted find out who was texting my wife. I waited in my car to see who it was.

"I saw it was Williams. I asked him – are you sleeping with my wife and he said ‘no, no, no.’.

"I asked him about the number on my wife’s phone, I told him to show me his phone, if I was wrong, I would apologise, but he didn’t show me his phone."

After the incident, an in-law called on the help of a Pastor from a church to help resolve matters between the Mr Adiddo and Ms Agyeman. He forgave her on the condition she didn’t see him again.

Mr Adiddo then claims he saw Mr Etti-Williams and his wife kissing in outside an Asda in Southgate a week later.

The former Sainsbury’s worker then told the jury about how he was threatened by Mr Etti-Williams with a gun, which he said caused him to stab his wife to death He said: "I came back from getting a couple of beers. When I got back, my wife was in the shower, I was so tired so I went to lie down in the second bedroom.

"I could hear my wife talking to someone in the living room, I saw Williams in the room with my wife. It was shocked; they were talking to each other and started kissing. I came out of the room and tried to punch him.

"He pointed a gun at me and shouted ‘stupid man, idiot’ and led me to the second room. I was so scared.

"I was so angry at myself, I don’t know what happened to me. I went to the kitchen after he left and grabbed a knife, she was in the bathroom.

"I stabbed her. I wanted to kill her. I got the car and drove away and ended up in Chingford, I bought a can of petrol and was going to set myself alight. But I was then arrested."

Prosecutor Christopher Hehir questioned the altercation between Williams and Adiddo, suggesting he had made up the incident with the gun entirely.

Mr Hehir said: "You were utterly obsessed and became very angry, didn’t you?"

The prosecutor also questioned Adiddo about the time scale of the incident. He looked at a defence statement from May this year where Mr Adiddo says after Williams visited his home and threatened him, an argument quickly ensued between himself and Ms Agyeman.

However, in the hearing, Mr Adiddo claims he was pushed into a bedroom and wasn’t sure how long he was in there for. Something which QC Hehir described as: "a bit vague."

The trial continues.