AN evil Aussie convinced his "depressed and anxious" wife on to kill herself so he could claim her £770,000 life insurance.

Deranged Graham Morant even boasted to his wife how he would spend the money - before driving her to a hardware store to buy the generator she used to commit suicide.

Jennifer Morant, 56, was found dead in her car on November 30, 2014, by a note that read: "Please don't resuscitate me" at their Gold Coast home.

Her husband, a devout Christian, told her he planned to use the insurance money to build a religious commune, according to prosecutors.

Morant was set to receive A$1.4m (£770,000) as sole beneficiary of her life insurance policy.

Though she suffered chronic back pain and depression, Justice Peter Davis said his actions had nothing to do with compassion for his wife.

Sentencing him in the Queensland Supreme Court earlier today, he told him: "You counselled your wife to kill herself because you wanted to get your hands on the A$1.4m".

The 69-year-old pleaded not guilty to the charges but was convicted by trial of counselling and aiding his wife to take her own life.

Justice Davis added that Morant had shown no remorse for his offences, adding: "You took advantage of her vulnerability as a sick and depressed woman."

He said it it appeared to be the first time globally that a person had been sentenced for counselling someone to die by suicide.

However, the BBC reports that in August last year a US woman was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for encouraging her boyfriend to take his life.

Morant was sentenced to the maximum ten years for the charge of counselling suicide, and a six-year sentence for the charge of aiding suicide. The two sentences will be served concurrently.

He will be eligible for parole in October 2023.