Photos: Dubai based British newspaper Editor of Gulf News, Francis Matthew, 60, admits he accidentally killed wife

A British newspaper executive is being quizzed by police in Dubai on suspicion of killing his wife.

Expat Francis Matthew, 60, editor-at-large of the Gulf News, has been in custody since last Wednesday.

Matthew’s 62-year-old wife Jane was found dead at their home in the Arab state last Tuesday.

Their son John was believed to have travelled to Dubai to try to visit his father in custody.

Staff at the influential English-language daily newspaper – where Matthew has worked for 22 years – have been told their boss’s wife was killed.

The UAE government said that Mr Matthew called police to their home in the affluent Jumeirah area on July 4. They arrived to find Mrs Matthew badly injured and her husband said she had been attacked by burglars. 

“The examination revealed that the wife…died from a strong blow on her head with a solid object. There was also a possibility that that the husband was involved in the crime,” the government said in a statement.  

Mr Matthew then “admitted to the police that he carried out the crime” and “also admitted to assaulting his wife by throwing a hammer at her but he said he did not mean to kill her”.

“The public prosecutor has charged the husband with premeditated murder in accordance with the federal penal code, and investigations continue in this case,” the government said. 

Mr and Mrs Matthew had been married since 1985 and have one son. They were due to return to the UK this week to watch him graduate from university. 

The pair had lived in Dubai for almost thirty years and Mr Matthew remained well connected in the wealthy Gulf state. A photograph posted on his Facebook on June 25 showed him shaking hands with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai.

The UAE has the death penalty but it is used relatively rarely. An Emirati woman was executed by firing squad in 2015 for stabbing an American teacher to death in an Abu Dhabi shopping mall. 

Dubai Police: Gulf News Editor-at-Large Francis Matthew, referred to @DubaiPP after confessing to killing his wife because of marital issues

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) July 10, 2017

Dubai Public Prosecution has charged the husband with murder under federal penal law; investigations in the case are continuing

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) July 10, 2017

Suspect confessed during Public Prosecution's interrogation that he assaulted his wife&threw hammer at her without intending to kill her.

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) July 10, 2017

Suspect confessed committing the murder to Dubai Police,he was then referred to Juvenile&Family Prosecution in presence of legal interpreter

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) July 10, 2017

Initial reports showed that death resulted from a strong blow on the head with a hard object, which raised suspicion about the husband.

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) July 10, 2017

Dubai Police received a call on Tue from the defendant claiming that his wife was assaulted by burglars at their house in Jumeirah, #Dubai.

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) July 10, 2017

#Dubai Public Prosecution currently investigating the murder case & reviewing evidence, forensic reports & statements of witnesses.

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) July 10, 2017

Dubai Police: Gulf News Editor-at-Large Francis Matthew, referred to @DubaiPP after confessing to killing his wife because of marital issues

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) July 10, 2017

UPDATE: Top British Editor, Francis Matthew charged with murdering his wife with hammer in Dubai.