A Wicklow murder trial has heard that a young man admitted being in “an absolute rage” when he beat his mother to death with a coffee mug.

Bijan Afshar has pleaded not guilty of murdering Lynn Cassidy at her home in Bray by reason of insanity.

Two of Bijan Afshar’s teenage brothers found their mother lying in a pool of blood on their kitchen floor in the early hours of June 27th 2014.

Their parents were separated and they lived with her at the Deepdales estate on Southern Cross Road in Bray, while Bijan and her fourth son lived nearby with their father.

The court heard their house was being sold and Bijan, who was 21 at the time, called over to his mum’s to see if she could delay things.

Bijan was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome a few years beforehand and was struggling to deal with the move.

Following his arrest, he told gardaí he just lost control and pushed her against a wall. She fell and he said there was a struggle, during which he hit her several times with a coffee mug.

A postmortem revealed she died from blunt force trauma to the head, with neck compression a contributing factor.

Her son has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.