A happy, hard-working woman was murdered at home by her own son, who then fled to Spain using her bank cards, the Old Bailey heard today.

Margaret Sheehy, 58, known as Margot, was found dead nearly three years ago at her flat in Springfield Road, Kingston.

Surrey Comet:

Her eldest son, Sean Heiss, from Surbiton, appeared at the Old Bailey today charged with strangling her to death on June 11, 2012.

Prosecutor Sarah Plaschkes QC told the jury: "I can tell you that the defendant admits killing his mother.

"But the defence will invite you in due course not to convict him of murder but of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility."

Laying out the case in her opening statement she said: “On June 12, 2012, police officers found Margaret Sheehy’s lifeless body lying on the sofa in the front room of her home.

“She had sustained serious injuries to her head and face, and she had been strangled to death.

“Her son, Sean Heiss, this defendant, used her bank card on the evening of June 11, and then again in the early hours of June 12.

“That same day, June 12, he boarded a Eurostar train bound for Paris. From there he travelled to Spain and tried to use Ms Sheehy’s bank cards in San Sebastian.

“He has been extradited from Spain to stand trial.”

Ms Sheehy, a telemarketing executive at Intelliflo, based in Kingston, had been planning to sell her flat and move to live mortgage-free in Bournemouth or Spain, the court heard.

She had also planned to use the money to pay off debts accrued by Mr Heiss, 30, of The Sheraton, St Mark’s Hill, who was described as being in “difficult financial circumstances” and claiming benefits.

But Ms Plaschkes added: “It seems that by the weekend of June 9 she had indicated to some of her colleagues that she had decided to stay in her flat and continue working.”

Ms Sheehy had two sons by a former partner – Mr Heiss and his younger brother Christopher.

Ms Plaschkes said: “By June 2012 Christopher had married and moved to New Zealand.

“The defendant lived close to [his mother] and she saw him regularly. It seems he visited her flat almost every day.

“She was described as a model employee, described as having a happy disposition, conscientious and hard-working.”

Surrey Comet:

The court heard Mr Heiss, who claimed housing benefit and jobseeker’s allowance, had resigned from his last job, at Waitrose in Sheen, in March 2011.

He was some £200 overdrawn in one bank account, and had just £2.82 in his current account. He had called the JobCentre’s crisis loan line six times.

Mr Heiss denies murder. The trial continues.