A DRIVING test examiner killed his wife by deliberately crashing their pick-up truck off a motorway at up to 84mph, a court has heard.

A jury at Leicester Crown Court was shown CCTV footage of Ian Walters's Mitsubishi L200 moments before it veered on to an embankment beside the M1.

His wife Tracy, 48, died in hospital two days after being cut out of the wreckage of the 4x4 on March 21 last year.

Opening the case against Walters, who denies murder, prosecutor Charles Miskin QC alleged that the 51-year-old was "very angry" at the time of the crash after his wife asked for a divorce.

Walters, of Tregantle Walk, Swindon, and his wife, a former driving instructor, were travelling home from a "make-or-break" week away in North Yorkshire at the time of the collision.

Alleging that Walters steered across the hard shoulder on to the embankment at about 12.40pm, Mr Miskin told the court: "He didn't cause the crash for any virtuous reason, for example to avoid a person on the road. The prosecution case is that he deliberately caused the crash."

The Mitsubishi, which is not thought to have braked, ploughed through shrubbery, the court heard, was "airborne" for a time after hitting a concrete structure and eventually struck a tree.

After the crash, the metalwork of the vehicle had to be "unpeeled" from around Mrs Walters by emergency crews, and her husband spent several weeks in hospital.

The Crown alleges that Walters, who suffered various fractures and claims to have no memory of the incident, was driving at between 74mph and 84mph shortly before his vehicle left the southbound M1 near Leicester.

Traffic conditions at the time are said to have been "moderate" and the road surface was dry.

Time-lapse CCTV footage taken from the opposite carriageway of what Mr Miskin described as the "final seconds before the crash" - with the Mitsubishi veering towards the verge - was shown to the jury of three men and nine women.

Alleging that Walters's actions amounted to murder, Mr Miskin told the court: "He must have foreseen that really serious injury or death would result from his conduct."

Mrs Walters, a keen horse rider, married Walters in Cyprus in 2012 but their relationship is alleged to have become abusive soon afterwards.

Facebook messages sent by Mrs Walters during her week away and on the day of the crash were read to the jury by Mr Miskin.

He said Mrs Walters - who had written a note saying she was "scared and very unhappy" - appeared to be unable to cope with her husband's sexual demands.

Around a week before the crash, she dialled 999 and her husband was questioned by police but not arrested.

Around three hours before the crash, Walters is alleged to have told the owner of a holiday cottage in North Yorkshire that he was leaving a day early after a "big bust-up" with his wife.

Mr Miskin added: "He said that Tracy wanted a divorce and had called the police."

During his opening statement to the jury, Mr Miskin suggested that Walters caused the crash to show his wife "who was in charge" in their relationship.

Claiming that a text sent to Mrs Walters by her son seconds before the impact may have "acted as the trigger" for Walters's alleged conduct, Mr Miskin said: "He (the defendant) knew that he was in trouble with her, he knew that he was in trouble with her family, and he knew that he was in trouble with the police.

"He probably felt some degree of humiliation. He wanted to show her who was in charge, who was in control."

The trial was adjourned until tomorrow.