A Mayo man who is accused of murdering his wife told a consultant psychiatrist that he was “on a mission from God”, a court has heard.

RTÉ are reporting that James Kilroy has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder of Valerie French Kilroy at their home at Kilbree Lower in Westport between June 13 and 14 2019.

The trial has heard that Gardaí detained Mr Kilroy under the Mental Health Act after he was seen acting unusually and walking around naked on June 14 2019.

The 50 year old, who had been working as a park ranger, was taken to a Castlebar hospital for assessment.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Camilla Curtis agreed with the prosecuting counsel that Mr Kilroy told her he believed his wife Valerie was working against him and wanted to harm him, the national broadcaster reports.

The court heard that Dr Curtis asked him if he was a religious man, to which he replied that he had become more religious as of  late and was “on a mission from God to kill his wife.”

When asked if he had fulfilled the mission, the accused told Dr Curtis that he did not remember.

During the assessment, Mr Kilroy told Dr Curtis that his wife’s body was in a Ford van at the shed and said he “stabbed her using a kitchen knife to her throat.”

Chief State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan carried out the post mortem examination, reporting that the cause of death was ligature strangulation, blunt force trauma and a stab wound to the neck.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of seven women and five men.

The trial is expected to last up to three weeks.