A 35-year-old Polish man, who was initially deemed unfit to stand trial, has admitted murdering his mother and was today handed a mandatory life sentence.

Tomasz Piotrowski, of Cherrybrook, Ardee, Co Louth, was arrested a few hours after her body was found at her home two years ago.

Some Stanley knives and an axe were found next to Elzbieta Piotrowski’s body when gardaí entered her home on January 8th 2019. The 57-year-old had been decapitated.

Her son, Tomasz, was arrested and later deemed unfit to stand trial.

However, last November, he told another psychiatrist that he had lied about his mental state in order to get a lighter sentence.

Mr Justice Michael White was left to decide whether he was in fact fit to stand trial and last week, he decided that he was.

In the end, a jury wasn’t needed. The 35-year-old pleaded guilty to his mother’s murder today and was handed the mandatory life sentence.