A MAN tried to murder his 93-year-old mother by strangling the pensioner then smothering her with a pillow, a court heard.

Carlton Hedley Llewelyn Browning, 57, of Hillside Avenue, Blaenavon, denies attempted murder and assault causing actual bodily harm against his mum Mary Browning.

During the first day of the trial at Cardiff Crown Court, the jury heard from prosecutor Peter Davies that in the early hours of Monday, August 6, Browning entered his mother's bedroom in the flat they share, where she was sitting on her bed.

He put his hands around her throat and squeezed, Mr Davies said, causing visible reddening. He held her neck, shook her and pushed her down onto the bed before reaching for a pillow and putting it over her face.

Mrs Browning screamed and the downstairs neighbours, Donna Williams and her partner Barry Thomas, were woken up.

Ms Williams, whose bedroom is directly beneath Mrs Browning's, came upstairs into the flat and asked Browning to leave the room.

Ms Williams and her partner had been to the flat on Sunday evening, and had seen Browning watching the Olympics on television and drinking, Mr Davies said.

After leaving the bedroom the defendant telephoned Careline and told the operator he had found his mother, who has respiratory problems, in need of medical attention and they had argued because she did not want to call an ambulance. She was not wearing her hearing aids and their voices were raised, he said.

The defendant told the Careline operator his mother had Alzheimer's and was in the habit of being unreasonable, Mr Davies said.

Careline called an ambulance and a paramedic spoke to Mrs Browning but she did not want to report her son to the police, Mr Davies said.

Despite this, the paramedic called the police who then cautioned Browning. The defendant repeated the claim that his mother had been diagnosed with dementia by a consultant.

In interview Browning denied putting his hands round her throat or putting a pillow over her face. A blood test taken 13 hours later, at 3.10pm on August 6 show no traces of alcohol in the defendant's blood.

Proceeding