Son inflicted ‘catastrophic brain injury’ on his 79-year-old mum

Widow Betty Constable, of Merleswen, was taken to Lincoln County Hospital on September 22 last year after the incident at her home in Dunholme. She died two days later.

Her son, Nigel Constable, 52, of Sherburn Road, Rastrick, denies murder.

During the opening of the trial at Lincoln Crown Court, William Harbage QC, for the prosecution, said: “This is a sad, tragic and unusual case.

“It concerns the death of an elderly woman called Betty Constable who was killed by her own son, this defendant, Nigel Constable, who is charged with her murder.

“The evidence which you will hear is that he assaulted her in her own home in the village of Dunholme.

“He caused her very serious head injuries including a fractured skull and brain damage, from which she died a couple of days later.

“The unusual feature about this case is that the defendant is a long-standing sufferer from epilepsy and has a history of being violent in the course of, and immediately after, epileptic seizure.

“He maintains he has no recollection of attacking his mother and he suggests he must have done so during the course of, or immediately after, an episode of seizure.

“He was attacking as an automatism - he did not know what he was doing so he is not guilty of murder.”

Mr Harbage said the prosecution does not seek to challenge the opinion of two medical experts - Professor Michael Kopelman and Doctor Dominic Heaney - who agree it is probable that Constable was in a state of automation brought on by epileptic seizure.

Mr Harbage told the jury: “If you agree with the two experts and conclude that the defendant was probably suffering the effects of epileptic seizure when he killed his mother, the correct verdict will be not guilty by reason of insanity.”

The court heard Mrs Constable was last seen alive by a neighbour with her son at about 8.45am on the Sunday and everything seemed fine.

But at 9.58am Constable rang his sister for the number of their aunt and explained he needed help getting his mother up as she had fallen and was bleeding from the mouth.

Relatives arrived to discover Mrs Constable on the floor of the hallway with her head near the bathroom door.

The court heard there was a lot of blood on the floor, she was coughing up blood and there was blood from her nose and an ear.

Medics at Lincoln County Hospital said the injuries she received were consistent with a road traffic collision, a fall from height or serious assault.

Constable was arrested after his mother’s death.

l Proceeding