By Josh Pennington

Copyright manchestereveningnews

A mother allegedly killed her autistic son after the “challenges of caring” for him led to her becoming depressed, a court has been told. Claire Button, 35, stands accused of murdering five-year-old Lincoln Brookes at their family home in South Ockendon last December. Emergency services rushed to Windstar Drive in the south Essex town on December 15 after Mrs Button’s husband, Nicky, returned from work to discover his son and his wife, who had attempted to take her own life. Sadly Lincoln was declared dead at the scene. Jurors heard that Mrs Button, who denies murder, had previously admitted to manslaughter, reports Essex Live . Never miss a story with the MEN’s daily Catch Up newsletter – get it in your inbox by signing up here Jurors were told that Mrs Button, who denies murder, had previously entered a guilty plea to manslaughter. Mr Andrew Jackson, prosecuting, alleged that “what happened that day was a deliberate and unlawful act plainly done with the intention of killing Lincoln”. During the school summer holidays in 2024 Ms Button was taken by her mother to a mental health unit at Basildon Hospital, where she was diagnosed with depression and given medication. The medication “appeared to be having a positive effect” on Ms Button after a week and by the time Lincoln returned to school things had become better. But the October half-term break “marked a return to the problems”. Claire visited her GP and was prescribed an increase of the medication given to her for her depression. Her condition again improved once Lincoln was back at school, Mr Jackson said. The prosecutor added: “[With] the school Christmas holidays on the near horizon the defendant was again saying that her health had deteriorated.” Jurors were shown footage of Lincoln and his mum entering a LIDL supermarket on December 14. The youngster appeared fixated on the store’s automatic entrance door, being filmed going to and from them multiple times. The following day Claire briefly visited her mum with Lincoln. During the visit she told her mother about what happened at the supermarket. Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE At 11.25am that same day, December 15, the defendant made a call to emergency services where she asked for an ambulance. She reported to the call handler that “she was about to take an over dose”. Ms Button, who was at home with her son, was asked if she was with anyone and she replied that it was just her alone. The 999 handler advised Ms Button to wait with a friend as they “might not be able to get an ambulance to her for 10 hours”. Claire’s husband made the tragic discovery about his son when he returned home from work just before 3pm on December 15. Paramedics were rushed to the scene but Lincoln was sadly declared deceased at 3.55pm. Mrs Button was taken to hospital after suffering injuries and telling medics that she had taken an overdose. She was later arrested by police officers on suspicion of murder. The trial at Basildon Crown Court continues.