A PARANOID schizophrenic shoved a man to the ground before kicking to him to death, a court heard.

Jay Turner is standing trial for the killing of 60-year-old Harry Hennessey in Longcroft Care Home, in Swan Lane, Wickford, on July 2 last year.

Turner, 44, a fellow resident of the home, denies one count of murder and one count of manslaughter.

It is alleged that following an argument in the garden, Turner carried out the fatal attack on Mr Hennessey.

A jury of seven women and five men were shown CCTV footage of the attack, depicting Mr Hennessey getting up to walk away, before holding up a cushion towards the other man’s head, and then leaving.

The other man follows him, pushes him to the floor, kicks him once in the back and then five times in the front.

Christopher Paxton QC, prosecuting, told the jury that Turner denies the man in the footage kicking Mr Hennessey was him.

Turner told police that Mr Hennessey “shouted at me and started abusing me, so I pushed him away”.

Mr Paxton said: “Jay Turner delivers these purposeful and deliberate kicks to Mr Hennessey.

“We see they were delivered with force, first to his back and then he steps over Mr Hennessey while he is on the floor, to enable him to kick Mr Hennessey for another five times.

“The actions to push him and the series of kicks to parts of his body with vital organs, demonstrates his desire to case him serious harm.

“What other intention would he have when pushing him on the ground and in delivering one, two, three, four, five different kicks.”

Mr Paxton told the jury that Turner had been charged with both manslaughter and murder because they had to be sure the attacker was Turner, and if they are, they need to be sure if he had an abnormality of mental function at the time.

The crown accept Turner’s condition but say it would not have influenced his actions.

He added: “The prosecution say that Jay Turner had the intention to cause him serious harm, so we say you will not need to consider the alternative count of manslaughter.

"The prosecution do not accept that at the time he was suffering from abnormality of function.”

The trial continues.