The jury in the trial of a woman accused of murdering her son has heard she admitted stabbing him when gardaí burst into her home in Dublin.

Maha Al-Adheem, of Riverside, Poddle Park in Kimmage claims she was suffering from a mental disorder at the time.

On July 10th last year, Garda Diarmuid Kelly responded to a 999 call.

He was informed that a woman calling from the Riverside apartment complex had told the operator her baby was dead.

Two firefighters had to knock down the door to gain entry, and when he went in, he said Maha Al-Adheem was standing in the hallway.

He said she looked panicked and put her hands up and said “no, no, no” as she backed into the living room.

He said she was covered in blood.

The body of her three-year-old son Omar was found in her bedroom.

When he asked her what happened, Garda Kelly said she told him she did it – that she had stabbed her son and then herself.

Yesterday, the court heard Ms Al-Adheem repeatedly told gardaí about an evil black cat that made bad things happen.

The jurors were told the Kuwaiti-born doctor intends to rely on the defence of insanity.