A MUM who strangled and drowned her son believed she was “saving him from a fate worse than death”, a court heard.

Christina Acres killed her seven-year-old son George Acres at the family home in Rochford on July 23 last year.

Acres, 36, is on trial for George’s murder. She admits killing him, but denies murder, and a jury must decide if she is not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, or if she is guilty of manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

At Basildon Crown Court yesterday, a jury heard evidence from Dr Michael Alcock, a consultant forensic psychiatrist who has treated Acres since the killing.

Dr Alcock stated that Acres has developed schizophrenia, and in the run-up to the killing she had become severely mentally ill, and when she killed her son had “lost all concept of reality”.

He told the court: “This is a lady who is severely mentally unwell.

“She’s one of the one in 100 people who develop schizophrenia, and this illness had rapidly developed.

“At the time, so was so psychotic she was completely out of touch with reality.

“She had previously said the Illuminati were trying to poison the family, and her birthday is on Halloween.

“She had distorted this background information and believed that witches were following her, and that she, her father, and her child were witches.

“People who are schizophrenic and psychotic will become absolutely petrified.

“She believed her son was a witch, and she was so scared she felt she had to take action.

“She believed it was absolutely the right thing to do, and that is a complete detachment from reality, thinking irrationally in a psychotic way.”

George Acres was discovered unresponsive at the home in Rochford Garden Way on the morning of July 23 last year.

The court previously heard how Acres said she wanted to kill George, kill her own father and then kill herself because they were all witches.

Acres sat in court with two security guards, shedding tears as the evidence read out.

Only a jury can find a special verdict of not guilty of murder by reason of insanity.

Dr Alcock said Acres has shown behaviours which falls into the legal definition of insanity, and that she needs to be kept contained in a institution and treated over a number of years before it can be proven she would be safe to be released.

He added: “On the day, during this tragic killing, in her mind she was killing a witch.

“She genuinely believed it would save her child from a fate far worse than death.

“Is killing a witch an offence? It’s so insane.”

Psychiatrist Dr Philip Joseph, also giving evidence, agreed with Dr Alcock that Acres was insane during the killing and insanity was the right verdict for the jury to arrive at.

Andrew Jackson, prosecuting, questioned whether Acres would have had a degree of awareness that what she would do to her son would be wrong, as she admitted in interviews to Dr Joseph she was waiting until her mother left the house.

Dr Joseph responded: “I don’t believe she knew what she was doing was wrong. The reason she waited for her mother to leave for work was because she completely believed it was something she had to do, and her mother may stop what needed to be done.

“When she killed her son, she was so far away from being in touch with reality that she believed she was killing a thing, not her son.

“This thing – a witch – wanted to kill her in her mind.”

Dr Joseph additionally stated that there had been no evidence through interviews and examinations that Acres had shown aggression towards her son and had never previously been violent.

Earlier in the trial, the jury heard evidence from George’s father Gary Acres that she had always been a “loving mother” and never wanted to hurt him.

The trial, which is expected to conclude today, continues.