MAN ACCUSED OF MURDERING MUM OFTEN VERBALLY ABUSED HER, TRIAL JURY TOLD

A MAN told gardai, “I didn’t kill the bitch”, when they put an allegation to him that he had killed his 75-year-old mother, a Central Criminal Court jury heard.

- BY EOIN REYNOLDS

They were also told the accused man, Billy Burns, 55, broke his mother Miriam Burns's jaw in 1993 and often verbally abused her over the years.

Sharon Kelleher, the accused's eldest sibling, told the trial that their mother knew from experience that Billy could be dangerous, but she always tried to help him.

Ms Kelleher said her mother “got the brunt of it” when the accused, who has mental health issues, was coming down off drugs.

“She never did anything to bring that on,” Ms Kelleher said. “All she did was try to help.”