Hussey, who claimed voices in her head had told her to 'get rid of grandma', was yesterday convicted of the murder of Annie Garbutt, of The Clough, Battyeford, by a jury at Leeds Crown Court.

She will be sentenced on June 11.

The jury took 50 minutes to return their verdict.

Hussey bludgeoned her 77-year-old grandmother to death with a 6lb garden spade on May 7 last year.

Hussey, of Grange Mount, Yeadon, who admitted the killing during police questioning, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter by defence of diminished responsibility. But her claim was discredited by both prosecution and defence expert psychiatric witnesses Dr Adrian Berry and Dr John Fraser.

Hussey maintained she still could not remember what had happened the night of the attack, except that 'voices were telling me to hit her (Mrs Garbutt] harder and harder'. But both doctors said that was probably a lie.

Bipolar disorder sufferer Hussey claimed she had started hearing voices two or three weeks before the killing telling her that her grandmother was bad and needed getting rid of. Both doctors said hearing voices was a symptom of an abnormality of mind but Hussey's depressive symptoms were not. Defence psychiatrist Dr Berry said "I don't think she has a personality disorder."

IMAGINARY

In his final speech defence barrister Neil Davey QC said there was no evidence linking Hussey to her grandmother's money and the only conclusion was that Hussey had acted on the instruction of imaginary voices.

He asked the jury not to 'throw the baby out with the bath water' by judging Hussey on her lies. He said she had 'created the impression of someone who is prepared to lie at the drop of a hat'. In this respect she is her own worst enemy."

He added: "Stupid people do stupid things – this is no criminal mastermind you are dealing with here.

"Nobody in their right mind would do what she did. It just so happens that she wasn't in her right mind."

But prosecutor James Goss QC said Hussey was not hearing voices and had murdered her grandmother to get hold of her money.

He said: "Although the defendant had suffered from depression in the past she was not so mentally unwell at the time of the killing as to be suffering from an abnormality of mind that substantially diminished her responsibility for her actions.

"She was not hearing voices ordering her to get rid of Annie Garbutt and this is something she has made up to provide excuses for her actions."