Grandson Hayden Leigh Kidd admits killing his nan Shirley Kidd while in grip of drug-induced psychosis where he believed she was his abusive stepfather

A man who beat his own grandmother to death while in a psychotic episode has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Hayden Leigh Kidd, 22, initially faced a jury trial at the Supreme Court in Ballarat, accused of murdering his grandmother Shirley Kidd.

Prosecutors told the jury he attacked the 68-year-old, hitting her head and torso with a garden pick, at her home in Darley, west of Melbourne.

She was found with “critical injuries” near her carport around 10:30 p.m.

Mrs Kidd could not be revived and died at the scene.

Neighbors heard screams just before police and ambulances arrived on the evening of May 28, 2022.

“It just screamed, like it was loud,” Chris Ward said.

“It just sounded like an argument.”

‘I could solve it. It was definitely a husband-wife argument,” he told the newspaper Herald Sun.

Mr Ward added that the argument lasted about five to 10 minutes.

Neighbors heard screams just before police and ambulances arrived to find Mrs Kidd, 68, with ‘critical injuries’

Kidd faced a new manslaughter charge in the Ballarat Supreme Court on Friday

Two psychiatrists agreed Kidd was in an altered mental state at the time of the attack, most likely caused by cannabis-induced psychosis, the jury was told.

Kidd did not deny killing his grandmother, but instead argued that he acted in self-defense because he honestly believed she was his abusive former stepfather.

The trial lasted eight days in Ballarat, with evidence from the Kidd family, police officers and experts.

But on Friday, both the defense and prosecution requested that the jury be dismissed on the murder charge, with a new manslaughter charge against Kidd.

The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to manslaughter and will return to court in June for a pre-sentence hearing.