Guilty of strangling and smothering his ailing mother

Son's claim of self-defence after 'provocation' rejected

- EOIN REYNOLDS

A JURY has con- victed a 39-year-old man of strangling and smothering his ailing mother-rejecting his claim that he was provoked and defended himself from an attack by her.

Nigel Canavan, 39, claimed stab wounds to each of Angela Canavan's thighs, one of which tracked to 13.5cm in depth, were self-inflicted.

The trial heard Ms Canavan had a "glittering career" as a psychotherapist before she fell into the grip of alcoholism.

Canavan claimed he had acted in self-defence when his mother, who had a brain injury from a fall four years before her death, attacked him by swinging her open hands at him and trying to kick him.

Taking the stand at his Central Criminal Court trial, Canavan accused his mother of deliberately provoking him by calling him the "worst son in the world" and saying she wished she had never had him during a heated argument.