Mum killer Trent Bird waiting for a spot at a high security hospital because no beds are available

A Victorian man who killed his mother because he believed she was a “demon” is facing a long wait for a mental health bed.

Trent Bird killed his mother Lorraine Bird with a tractor at his Hedley property in August 2020.

A man who killed his mum believing she was a “demon” will languish for a year waiting for a mental health bed as Victoria’s high security hospital is in a “dire situation”.

Trent Bird was found not guilty by mental impairment of killing Lorraine Bird, 73, found under hay on the forks of a tractor at his Hedley property in August 2020.

His mental state had been deteriorating, and according to a witness he said: “I’m not sure if I have to die or go to a psych ward. I’ve been fighting demons all day. I killed a demon in front of my tractor up the back paddock.”

Despite having already waited six months at Port Phillip prison for a spot at secure Thomas Embling Hospital, the Supreme Court heard on Friday there “still isn’t a bed available”, with no guarantees there would be one by March 2023.

Lorraine Bird was killed by her son Trent Bird in Hedley, Gippsland.

Forensicare prisons director of clinical services Dr Kate Roberts said “unfortunately we are in a dire situation where we don’t have enough beds”.

Dr Roberts told the court there were eight other patients like Mr Bird, on custodial supervision orders and waiting for a place, while just five people had moved in off the wait list in the past six months.

There was funding to build more capacity at the current 136-bed facility, but those works wouldn’t be completed until 2024, she said.

Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth called for Forensicare to hand the court a deidentified quarterly report into its wait list so the legal fraternity could “feel some formal movement” of the queue.

Her Honour said the wait list was “an issue in a number of cases” before the Supreme Court, including that of a prisoner before Justice Lex Lasry last month.

Mr Bird’s case was adjourned to March 3, 2023.