WA man with dementia 'never fit to plead'

An elderly man with advanced dementia, who is accused of killing his wife, will never be fit to plead, his lawyer has told a Perth court.

John Huggins, 87, is charged with murdering his 75-year-old wife, who is believed to have been his full-time carer, at their Piara Waters home on March 20.

Huggins, who is on bail and is being treated at a special elderly mental health ward at Armadale Hospital, did not have to appear in Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

His lawyer Seamus Rafferty said the matter could proceed to a fitness to plead hearing in the Supreme Court on August 14, which magistrate Danielle Davies agreed to.

"He will never be fit to plead," Mr Rafferty said.