Mother of murder accused 'got the brunt' of son coming off drugs, trial told

The jury has heard that the accused, Billy Burns, accepts he killed his mother, but he has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder charge against him

The body of Miriam Burns was discovered at her house in Killarney.

A man told gardaí, "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 this afternoon.

The jury also heard that the accused, 55-year-old Billy Burns broke his mother Miriam Burns's jaw in 1993 and often verbally abused her over the years.