A killer who is suing a health authority after stabbing his wife to death is set to have a court hearing in his bid to win £250,000 damages.

Neil Cumming's wife Jane suffered 36 major stab wounds to her body, arms and hands in the fatal attack at the family home in Mary Findlay Drive, Longforgan, Perthshire, on July 15, 2011.

Cumming now claims he has endured "distress and anxiety" over his wife's suffering before her death.

He is suing NHS Tayside, claiming a psychiatrist was negligent in failing to get him admitted to hospital the day before the attack.

Cumming was ordered to be detained in the high-security State Hospital at Carstairs in 2012 as he was acquitted of murder on the grounds he was insane at the time.

The production manager was suffering a persistent delusional disorder, believing he was being spied on by work colleagues at a tyre factory in Dundee.

Cumming subsequently raised a civil action against the health authority seeking compensation.

It claimed he "has endured distress and anxiety in contemplation of the suffering of the deceased prior to her death" and he suffered grief and sorrow because of his part in his wife's death.

He is also seeking compensation for his detention in the State Hospital.

Following an earlier hearing, a judge said Cumming was suing the health authority for compensation "in unusual circumstances".

John Beckett QC, now Lord Beckett, said: "The pursuer's claim is that a psychiatrist employed by the defenders, Dr Lyn McLaren, was negligent in failing to advise the pursuer of the availability of a bed at Murray Royal Hospital, Perth, and in failing to arrange his admission there when he attended with her on July 14, 2011 at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee.

"He claims that, but for the negligence alleged, he would not have killed his wife the next day and would not have attempted to commit suicide," said the judge.

After killing his wife, Cumming tried to take his own life, driving at speeds in excess of 100 mph on the A90 before crashing into the back of a lorry.

Other road users were injured in the incident and Cumming and the health board have been sued by them at Perth Sheriff Court.

Cumming raised his action against the health authority at the Court of Session in Edinburgh claiming damages for pain and suffering over the loss of his wife and other matters.

During a brief hearing in the action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Wednesday, judge Lord Boyd of Duncansby was told an eight-day hearing was due to begin in January 2018.