A respected family doctor twice stepped past the body of his dead wife after returning home from a night out with another woman.

Dr Andrew Henderson, pictured, told an inquest he thought his spouse was drunk, but still alive - yet instead of offering medical help, he took a photograph of her.

The GP said he took the picture to "defend himself" against possible allegations that he assaulted her. He also phoned the other woman, saying his wife had "overcooked it this time".

The inquest heard how he found the bloody body of Pamela Henderson slumped on the stairs of their home in Lady Lane, Bingley, at around 7am one day last March. Dr Henderson said he thought she was "shallow breathing" but a paramedic said she probably died four hours earlier.

Dr Henderson said: "I thought she was just lying in a relatively safe position, just sleeping it off on the stairs,".

The court heard Mrs Henderson, 51, a former nurse, had a serious alcohol problem for at least four years and had been drinking vermouth from a pint glass the night before her death.

Dr Henderson said he often came home to find her incapacitated and that she had been taken to hospital many times.

On the night before her death, Dr Henderson said they had shared a rare conversation, where he asked: "You realise what is happening don't you?", to which she replied: "Yes, I am dying."

The GP said he then asked about her funeral and she said 'Bingley Parish Church'. As for flowers, she asked for daffodils, the inquest heard.

Dr Henderson then said: "Is there anything else I can get you and she said 'Get me vodka'".

Describing how he discovered her, he said: "I came home and completely misjudged the seriousness of the incident, because I was in an extremely distressed state.

"I was at the end of my tether - I was not behaving as a professional person.''

At the inquest he was asked by Mrs Henderson's father, Richard Brumfitt, why he took the photograph. He replied: "To show the falls she was having and the bruises. I was thinking of having to defend myself here, before you.''

Dr Henderson claimed Mr Brumfitt once told him: "I think you should divorce, but if you don't I will make sure at an inquest that you are professionally ruined.''

The GP told the coroner: "I spent a long, long period of time expecting to find the worst."

The woman he spent the evening with, Wendy Varney, who is no longer in a relationship with him, said: "At about 7.15am he rang me and said he had found Pamela lying at the bottom of the stairs and that she was hardly breathing. He made the comment she had overcooked it this time, which I took referred to her drinking.''

A paramedic called to the scene told the inquest: "I was uneasy because of Dr Henderson's uninvolvement in the case, being a GP and not assisting his wife if she was that ill."

He said he was also concerned about the amount of blood, adding: "I won't speculate how it got there but it was certainly unusual."

Det Chief Inspector Gary Baker, then of Bradford police, told the hearing: "There is no evidence to connect Dr Henderson with the death. He clearly spent the evening elsewhere - we are satisfied with that.''

He said Mrs Henderson had hit her head on the window sill before going upstairs. Later she woke made her way downstairs, where she fell.

A post mortem examination revealed she had died from shock and haemorrhaging from a cut to her head.

Home Office pathologist Dr Christopher Milroy said there was no direct evidence of another person being involved.

Recording a misadventure verdict, deputy coroner Mark Hinchliffe said he was "extremely surprised, to put it mildly'' that Dr Henderson had walked past his wife twice and took her photo.

"He said to Miss Varney that he thought there was shallow breathing, but he made no specific investigation to justify that opinion.''

After the hearing Dr Henderson said he had suffered a nervous breakdown because of his ordeal but was now practising again in Bradford.

"The important thing is that I knew the circumstances of Pam's death and I put faith in God that she would be at peace."

He added: "I knew that if I told the truth consistently that it would be accepted."

He described her as 'a brilliant nurse and wonderful wife' who was loved by her patients.

Mr Brumfitt said he was "very unhappy" with the verdict and was considering making an appeal.