The jury in the trial of a woman accused of murdering her son has been hearing from a psychiatrist who assessed her after she was arrested.

Maha Al-Adheem claims she was suffering from a mental disorder when she stabbed him at their home on Poddle Park, Kimmage in Dublin.

She is on trial for murder.

It is accepted that she caused the death of her three-year-old son Omar, but she claims she was suffering from a mental disorder when she stabbed him on July 10th last year and has raised the defence of criminal insanity.

As a result, the special verdict of not guilty of murder by reason of insanity will be available to the jurors when they begin their deliberations.

Her defence barrister called Dr Paul O’Connell this afternoon - a forensic psychiatrist who assessed Ms Al-Adheem afterwards.

He said she had a history of depression and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

He said she exhibited signs of paranoid delusions in that she thought her thoughts were being published on Facebook.

He said she was also obsessed with a black tailless cat which she claims was evil and made bad things happen.

She also told him “a power” made her take the knife out of a drawer.