A mother who was diagnosed as suffering from a personality disorder told gardaí she definitely did not hurt her two-and-a-half-year-old son.
Muhammad Hassan Khan was found dead in the bedroom of his home at Ridge Hall Ballybrack on the 16 October 2014.
The toddler had been stabbed.
His 47-year-old mother Hazel Waters has pleaded guilty to his manslaughter.
The Central Criminal Court heard that Ms Waters had converted to Islam and had become quite obsessive "almost radicalised" in her beliefs.
She arrived at her sister's home at 1.20pm on 16 October 2014 without her Hijab in a distressed state and carrying her son's wooden spoon.
She said "they had taken him" but could not say who had or where the child was.
An hour later gardaí found Hassan's body in the apartment.
Ms Waters was arrested and although "totally co-operative" she told gardaí she could not recall what happened.
She said she would never hurt her son whom she described as a wonderful boy, lovely and full of energy, "I would never harm him" she said.
The court heard her family had become concerned about her behaviour in the time leading up to the killing and a social worker who tried to meet Ms Waters that morning could not contact her or get into the apartment
She had removed the child from his crèche because she believed they were teaching him about Christmas and Halloween which she described as "witchcraft" and felt was in conflict with her Muslim beliefs.
She also texted her other son (from a previous relationship) who was an adult saying "they were coming, Hassan had been cloned, it wasn't Hassan, he had been taken away."
When she arrived at her sister's house she appeared disconnected from reality and told her "they have taken him, I don't know, I don't know, he is gone."
She described the toddler as "a fake child".
Dr Brenda Wright from the Central Mental Hospital where Ms Waters is currently being detained said she was suffering from a personality disorder, experiencing delusions and was emotionally unstable.
The sentence hearing at the Central Criminal Court is continuing.
