THE mother of a man accused of murdering his partner on New Year's day said her son admitted he had repeatedly beaten the victim.

Joan Gaffney, whose son Andrew is on trial at the Old Bailey for the murder of Maria Colaco, took to the witness stand this morning and recalled her conversation with him in the early hours of January 1.

She said Mr Gaffney, who turned 39 on Sunday, had lived with her in Richmond Road, Barnet, for a number of years and had seemed happy with the developing relationship with 50-year-old Maria, which had been going on for about four months.

Mr Gaffney said the couple “seemed to be together a lot of the time” and was aware Mr Gaffney was going to spend New Year with Maria.

She said: “He wasn't really looking forward to it but he didn't want to let Maria down.

“Andrew didn't really like going out on New Year's Eve.”

He spent the evening with Maria and friends in the Winters Pub, in Ballards Lane, Finchley, and Mrs Gaffney said the next time she saw him was about 4am.

She said she was in bed and heard the front door open before Mr Gaffney called out to her that he was home.

He went upstairs and Mrs Gaffney told the court: “He came to my bedroom door and stood in the doorway.

“The light from the hall was shining from behind him. He said 'I have hit Maria. I have hit her many times. The police will be coming round soon'.”

She followed Mr Gaffney downstairs, asking “is she alright?”, but he kept saying “don't worry, the police will be here”, the jury was told.

Mrs Gaffney said: “I didn't know what to do, he just kept repeating 'the police will be coming round'.

“It crossed my mind that if he thought the police would be coming round, Maria was in a fit state to call the police.

“Andrew was very on edge, jumpy. He looked like a child when they are overactive. He was drunk, but he wasn't falling about.”

Mrs Gaffney then became tearful when telling the court: “It seems strange now, but I was just sitting there waiting for the police to come.”

She tried to wake Mr Gaffney the next day and left a message on Maria's phone asking if she was alright and inviting her to ring back.

She said today: “I thought she might not have answered the phone because she didn't know the number or she was so angry with what Andrew had done.”

According to his mother, Mr Gaffney left home the next day at about 3.15pm to go and check on Maria at her flat in Simmons Close, Whetstone, and said to her “I am never going to drink again”.

He phoned home about half an hour later, having called 999, and said to Mrs Gaffney: “Mum, it's awful here.”

The court was also played a recording of the 999 call made by Mr Gaffney, in which he could be heard telling the operator that the couple had been involved in an argument the previous night and Maria was injured.

An apparently tearful Mr Gaffney said on the phone: “I definitely assaulted her last night so the police should come as well.”

At points, Maria was heard groaning in the background, while Gaffney repeated “lie still, lie still”.

A statement from a paramedic who attended the scene was read out in court, and noted the severe bruising to Maria's face and body, and her blood-stained top.

Two statements from PCs at the scene also confirmed Mr Gaffney said to them that he had assaulted Maria.

The grandmother was taken to the Royal Free Hospital, in Hampstead, but died from a heart attack on January 8.

Mr Gaffney denies the charge of murder. The trial continues.