Judge queries whether man's 'I love you' comment to his mother was 'for my benefit?'

Judge Olann Kelleher queried whether the defendant's comment to his mother was "for my benefit?" File picture: Dan Linehan

A young man who put his mother in fear in her own home told her "I love you" as he passed her on his way to the witness box at his sentencing - but the judge asked, “was that for my benefit?” 

The defendant’s mother said she was afraid of her son when he was drinking and that at least when he was in jail she knew where he was.