A JUDGE has described a murderer as having "a tenuous grip on the reality of life" after he told probation he had applied for a job in military intelligence.

Kevin Shepherd appeared before Her Honour Judge Leigh at Basildon Crown Court yesterday where he was jailed for murdering his sister Sharon Butler in Eastwood.

A report prepared by consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Nick Hallett described Shepherd as "quite delusional" and "a space cadet".

Shepherd also had diagnoses of mixed anxiety-depressive disorder and borderline personality, the court heard.

Judge Leigh said: “The defendant has been delusional for a large period of time.

“There are 14 separate delusions he has explained from the jobs he has held, money, and alcoholism.

“He recalls drinking 30 pints a day whereas his family say he doesn’t drink.

“He said he applied for jobs in military intelligence and working on a computer programme for the prison service.”

The court also heard how Shepherd’s mother had been “a shadow of her former self” after the murder.

A victim impact statement read how she was “physically and emotionally destroyed, needing constant care and reassurance”.

Shepherd will not be eligible for release from prison until at least 2038.