Ronald King: Pensioner appears in court charged with murder of wife Rita King at De La Mer care home in Essex

The 86-year-old appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates Court and was remanded in custody

Rita King, 81, who was shot dead at the De La Mer care home in Walton-on-the-Naze (PA)

A pensioner has appeared in court after allegedly shooting his wife in the back of the head with a revolver at a care home in Essex.

Ronald King, 86, appeared in court charged with the murder of his wife Rita King, aged 81, who was killed at the De La Mer House in Naze Park Road, Walton-on-the-Naze on Monday.

King - a former military serviceman with half of his left arm missing - appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates Court on Wednesday in a hearing that lasted less than two minutes.

Looking frail and hunched over a walking stick, King asked the court clerk to repeat her request for his name and address before he confirmed his name and address.

He did not enter a plea and was remanded in custody to appear at Chelmsford Crown Court tomorrow.

Rita King was found dead on 28 December at the care home whose manager, Julie Curtis, said she saw a man walking towards her holding a gun after the incident.

She said put her arm around the man and pleaded with him to drop the weapon - believed by police to be a 1934 Enfield revolver.

Ms Curtis told the Daily Mail the couple had been spending the week together at the home and appeared to be “in high spirits on Christmas Day”.

Additional reporting by PA