A 38-year-old man on trial for murdering his mother told gardaí he battered her to death because she was domineering and "wrecking" his head, the Central Criminal Court heard today.
Mr Kevin Bridgeman has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Marie Bridgeman (56) at their home at Old Mill Estate, Ratoath, Co Meath between January 21st and January 22nd, 2003.
The jury heard the accused told gardaí he killed her because she was "domineering" and "psyching" him out.
Mr Justice Barry White, presiding, told the jury that the issue they had to decide is "not whether Mr Bridgeman killed his mother but rather, what was the state of his mind at the time."
Opening for the prosecution, Mr Gerard Clarke SC told the jury they would hear prosecution evidence from a psychiatrist saying that the accused was legally insane at the time of the killing. He was since detained at the Central Mental Hospital.
The court heard that Marie Bridgeman lived with the accused at Old Mill, a small housing estate, since the summer of 2001. On the night of the killing, she travelled from Dublin to Ratoath. She phoned her son and he met her from the bus. Shortly afterwards, "a number of neighbours heard a commotion" in the grounds of a nearby house.
"They looked out and saw Kevin Bridgeman jumping up and down in a most agitated and furious manner." It emerged that what he was jumping on was, in fact, his mother's body.
Counsel told the jury they would hear evidence from the State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy that Ms Bridgeman died from a combination of brain injury, inhalation of blood, facial fractures and compression of the neck.
In evidence, Sgt James Troy, Ashbourne, told the court the accused admitted killing his mother during questioning. In a statement of interview read out in court Kevin Bridgeman stated: "I battered her to death with my fists...I kept hitting her with my fists...I hit her and I gouged out her eyes."
He also claimed to have stabbed his mother. However, cross-examined by Mary Ellen Ring SC, defending Sgt Troy said no knife was recovered and the post mortem recorded no such injuries.
Justice White, interjecting, observed that the accused's claim of gouging out her eyes appeared to have been a similar "figment of his imagination".
According to the interview notes the accused man said an argument erupted when his mother told him to go to bed and turn off the light but he refused.
Asked by gardaí if he meant to kill her he replied "No", adding that he was sorry.
The trial continues tomorrow.