A great-great grandmother died after being repeatedly cut on the neck with a 20cm bread knife by her own grandson in a care home, a court heard.

Dementia-sufferer Ruby Wilson, 94, was found sitting unresponsive and bleeding in her chair by staff after receiving several cuts to her neck on November 29 last year.

Antony Jennings, 33, is accused of murdering his elderly grandmother after walking into the care facility with a bag containing two knives.

Emergency services raced to Forest Place Nursing Home in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, at around 1.20pm on the day of the alleged murder.

Mrs Wilson, who was said by her family to love crocheting, dressmaking and bingo, was confirmed dead at 5.45pm that day.

A post-mortem on November 30 gave the provisional cause of death as an incised wound to the neck.

A jury at Chelmsford Crown Court heard on Monday that the defendant launched the gruesome attack after going to visit his elderly relative.

Prosecutor Stephen Rose said: “She [a nurse] saw Mr Jennings and Mrs Wilson meeting and drinking tea together at the lounge table.

“Mrs Wilson appeared to be very pleased to see her grandson.”

Jurors then heard that Jennings asked to see Room 3, where his Nan was staying.

The relatives went to the room, and the court heard that, 10 minutes later, a psychiatric nurse “felt a tap on her arm”.

Mr Rose said: “It was Mr Jennings. He said, 'I'm sorry...I just killed my Nan', to which [the nurse] reacted, 'You're joking'. He replied, 'I'm not joking'.”

The nurse allegedly went to Mrs Wilson's room, and found the resident bleeding from the neck area.

Mr Rose said: “She heard the defendant saying something along the lines of, 'I've killed her, I've killed her, it's time for her to go'.”

Jennings allegedly said later: “I don't want her to suffer any more and she's not in pain any more.”

After rushing to the facility, police officers entered Mrs Wilson's room to find her slumped in a high-backed chair.

Mr Rose said: “Obviously her throat had been cut. Significant amounts of blood were on her clothing and on the floor.”

The court heard that Jennings later told police: “I just wanted to get that done for ages to be honest with you mate.”

Jurors heard he later said: “I wanted to do that for ages, she was dead anyway. She was gone as far as I was concerned.”

The court heard that, in the moments before the fatal attack, Jennings had pressed the buzzer at the entrance.

He said he was there “to see his Nan”, and then signed the visitors' book at reception.

Mr Jennings was also reported to have said: “I just can't take it any more. She doesn't know who anyone is, she's in agony. I killed her, I just cut her throat.”

Mr Rose added: “He pointed to a bag and said 'it's in there'.”

The court heard Jennings was found with a 20cm-long and 3cm-wide orange bread knife in a JanSport back pack, which was seized by officers.

The knife was found to have blood on the handle.

Another 8cm smooth-bladed knife was found in the bag, but no signs of blood or other materials traceable to Mrs Wilson were found on it.

Mrs Wilson was found to have sustained “a number of separate cuts”, and the wound to her neck had divided the carotid artery and jugular vein.

Jennings appeared in the dock at Chelmsford Crown Court today wearing a dark blue Adidas tracksuit jacket over a blue t-shirt, and spoke to confirm his name.

The court heard that Jennings was later examined by three consultant psychiatrists, who all agreed on a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, including features of psychosis, moments of paranoia and delusions.

Dorian Lovell-Pank, representing Jennings, said: “Some time before this happened, he had been seriously mentally ill.

“His family was aware of that. He was ill and they were deeply concerned, so that by November 29 when this terrible event took place, this man was very deeply disturbed and sick.

“That of course is not an excuse for what he did, as you have heard. But it is an explanation for what he did.”

Forest Place Nursing Home, which looks after people with dementia among other conditions, is reported to have roughly 100 residents in its care.

The court heard that Mrs Wilson, who suffered from dementia, moved to the facility in May 2017.

Jurors heard she was visited by her daughter Hazel once a week.

Mr Rose said: “On the face of it, you may think she was comfortable, cared for and loved.”

Jennings, from Ilford, London pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Wilson but entered an alternative plea of guilty to manslaughter.

The trial, which is presided over by Judge Patricia Lynch QC and is expected to last up to three weeks, continues.