A woman allegedly cut off her mother's head after killing her before carrying it around in a carrier bag, a court has been told.
Odessa Carey, 36, is accused of causing the death of her mother, Odessa Carey Snr, 73, at her home in Ashington, Northumberland. When police found the body on a bed, her head and neck were absent.
Jurors heard that Carey carried her mother's head in a bag and later hid it in a cupboard under a sink at a friend's home. The court was also told she pulled the head from the bag and kissed it in front of a witness.
Prosecutor Nicholas Lumley QC said Carey is too unwell to be tried for murder, so jurors are only being asked to decide whether she committed the act in what is known as a trial of the facts.
Mr Lumley described how the victim, who suffered from arthritis and used a mobility scooter, had been badly beaten. Her head was removed, her brain taken from her skull, and her abdomen cut open.
A family friend testified that Carey showed him the head and kissed it before re-wrapping it. Police later found the head in a pillowcase and towel inside a carrier bag at a friend's property.
