Man jailed for killing his mother

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6709875.stm

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A paranoid schizophrenic who beat his mother to death has been jailed for life and is to be transferred to a high security mental hospital in Scotland.

Maureen Lyttle, 63, suffered 75 wounds when attacked in the living room of her north Belfast home in October 2005.

Her son Seamus, 36, walked into a PSNI station and confessed to the killing after a neighbour found her body.

He was first charged with murder, but later pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

Belfast Crown Court heard it had been a ferocious beating, in which the mother-of-six suffered a fractured jaw and 15 broken ribs.

Mrs Lyttle had been lying in the house for several days before she was found.

Her son, from Richmond Square in Belfast, has 265 criminal convictions.

The court was told that it was recorded as early as 1999 that Lyttle was not taking his anti-psychotic medication "and admitted hittinghis mother".

It is understood he was drunk when the fatal attack took place.

Jailing him for life, Mr Justice Morgan told Lyttle he would have to serve at least five years for the manslaughter of his mother.

However, he added that given his mental condition and personality problems, "you must realise that it may be much longer before you are considered suitable for release".

After hearing that Lyttle had been on remand in a medium security clinic, the judge called on the authorities to ensure such defendants were detained in a high security facility.