The [Ghanaian] wife of a British pensioner whose charred body was found near his holiday home in Gambia admitted in court yesterday that she murdered him, police said.

Kate West, 26, changed her plea to guilty when she appeared with three alleged accomplices at Brikama magistrates court in Gambia.

Mrs West, who is from Ghana, was charged with the murder of William West, 76, after his burnt body was found in the bush near the holiday home he owned in the fishing village of Sanjang a fortnight ago. She is likely to be sentenced next week. Gambia has the death penalty but has not used it for several years. The other three accused, Favor Akponegbeta Abakau, Idriss Masad and David Bathran, pleaded not guilty to murder.

Mr West, a Dublin-born businessman who had settled in England, went missing while he and Mrs West were holidaying in Gambia in June. Police in Britain were only alerted to his disappearance when his wife returned alone to their home in Hastings, East Sussex. Mr West's friends expressed concern and she told them he had disappeared while visiting a cigar shop on a day trip to Senegal. She reported her husband's disappearance to Sussex detectives who persuaded her to return to Gambia to help police with their inquiries. Within 48 hours of arrival she was arrested and officers were led to Mr West's body.

In initial interviews Mrs West told Gambian police that five Nigerian men took Mr West from the home and killed him.

Aziz Bojang, assistant superintendent of police in Gambia, said her version of events later changed. He said yesterday that she had admitted knocking her husband unconscious before dragging him from their home and setting him alight.

Mrs West met her future husband six years ago while he was on holiday in Gambia and she was on a visit from her native Ghana. According to friends they quickly became close and he organised for her to join him in England. They were married around six months later in Scotland.

It emerged after his body was discovered that his second wife was in line to inherit the Gambian property. Police said she had the will in her handbag when arrested.

Sussex detectives will travel to Gambia today to collect samples for DNA identification of Mr West's body, as Gambian authorities do not have the facilities. The body will eventually be returned to the UK for a postmortem examination.