Man believed father was part of witches' coven, court told

A mentally-ill man accused of killing his father believed his father was part of a coven of witches, a court heard today.

Kevin Parker, aged 45, also believed he was chosen by God to be the saviour of the second coming and was being pursued by witches in England and had been "bounced from wall to wall by Jesus", a murder trial jury in the Central Criminal Court heard.

Kevin Parker, of an address at Montree House in Athlone, Co Westmeath, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his father John Parker, aged 75, in Glasson Village near Athlone in September 2000.

State pathologist John Harbison told the court John Parker died as a result of a frenzied knife attack that left him with more than 20 serious stab wounds to his face and neck.

The trial, before Mr Justice Kevin O’Higgins and a jury of seven women and five men, continues today.