Warning: This story contains details that may upset some listeners.
A family friend of a woman murdered by her son in West Auckland last year says her friend would still be alive if she hadn't been discharged from hospital.
Martin Marinovich strangled his mother Noeleen before smashing her head with a hammer in their Oratia home last February.
He was struggling as his mother's sole caregiver at the time - telling a family friend he couldn't cope before murdering her the day after she was discharged from hospital.
Today he was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 14 years.
RNZ court reporter Anneke Smith filed this story.
