Hayden Kidd pleads guilty to manslaughter after killing grandmother

A man who was in a cannabis-induced psychosis when he killed his grandmother at their Darley home has made an 11th hour plea deal two weeks into his murder trial.

Hayden Kidd, 20, who was high when he killed his grandmother, has made an 11th hour plea deal to manslaughter.

A man who was high when he killed his grandmother, claiming he thought she was his abusive stepdad, has made an 11th hour plea deal to manslaughter two weeks into his murder trial.

Hayden Kidd has accepted responsibility for killing his grandmother Shirley, 67, with a gardening mattock in the garage of their Darley home, in May 2022.

The Supreme Court earlier heard Kidd was in a cannabis-induced psychosis when he walked from the garage where his grandmother lay in a pool of blood with the tool lodged in her skull, and said, “I’m going to sleep well tonight”.

Kidd later told psychiatrists he had believed Shirley was his abusive former stepfather, and that his seven-year-old cousin – who his grandma was trying to protect from him – was a younger version of himself.

The 22-year-old was facing the ninth day of his Supreme Court murder trial in Ballarat on Friday when prosecutors and his defence team made a joint application to discharge the jury.

Shirley Kidd was found dead in her Darley home. Picture: Facebook

The Crown then filed a new charge of manslaughter, which Kidd pleaded guilty to.

He’s expected to face a pre-sentence hearing in June.

On the evening of May 28 2022, the jury earlier heard the young boy was sleeping in a bedroom when his older cousin entered the room and began choking him.

Kidd then took the boy to the garage, where Shirley confronted him and told him to put the child down.

The boy, 7, was there in the garage when Kidd stabbed their grandmother to death with the mattock.

The young child rushed to get his grandfather, who found his wife of 43 years dead and Kidd appearing pale and struggling to keep his eyes open.

Kidd then walked past his grandfather out of the garage and uttered the comment that he’d sleep well that night.

Traces of psychoactive compound THC, found in cannabis, and antidepressants were later found in his system.

The issue at trial had been whether Kidd’s attack was “conscious, voluntary and deliberate”.

But the jury was denied the chance to make their finding after they were discharged on Friday morning.

Kidd will return to court on June 18.