A SON killed his mother to stop her suffering from Alzheimer’s, a court heard.

Robert Knight, 52, took to the stand at Basildon Crown Court yesterday and admitted killing his mother but denies her murder.

He said: “I did it. I could not bear to see her suffer any more.”

Knight, of Fairway, Leigh, is accused of murdering June Knight, 79, of Langley Lodge Care Home, in Westcliff.

He told the jury: “Mum started to get more poorly in about 1980 and she was 40 years old. In the early 1990s, I started to notice worrying mental issues with mum.

“She was clearly hearing voices by about 1994 and we could hear both sides of conversations, where she would speak in different voices.

“She was also having visual hallucinations and paranoid thoughts where she believed everyone was in a vast conspiracy to get us.

“After my father died in 2002, it was just us, with me doing my best to cope until 2009.

“She had a leg ulcer and was forced into hospital and we had to have her sectioned, she then spent time in Rochford mental health hospital.”

The jury heard Knight had spent the day with her on December 10 and left to teach a languages class.

After the class he returned.

The court heard how CCTV showed Knight carrying his mother through a fire escape out onto the balcony.

He then dropped her off the balcony.

Mrs Knight suffered a serious brain injury as a result of the fall and died shortly afterwards.

Knight was arrested at the scene and later charged with murder.

The inquest heard a post-mortem examination found she died after suffering head injuries.

The jury were asked to keep emotions out of it and rely on facts by the prosecution.

The trial is expected to last until the end of the week at Basildon Crown Court.