A MUM who throttled her 10-year-old son to death because she thought his big ears were ruining his life is facing murder charges in Turkey.

Nuray Sacan, 37, had paid for the boy to have cosmetic surgery in Gazi Hospital in the capital Ankara, but when she turned up to see the results she told surgeons she was unhappy with the way it turned out.

So she took the youngster to the women’s toilet in the early hours of the morning and choked him to death with her own scarf.

She was caught when she fled the hospital in her car but hit another vehicle and confessed to the killing while she was being taken back to hospital in an ambulance.

“Both his ears had become even bigger after the surgery.

“He became very ugly. He would have felt even more ashamed in front of his friends. I did it to save him such embarrassment,” Sacan said.

She claimed she had paid for the surgery because her son had suffered years of bullying and teasing because of his sticking out ears.

“I was trying to protect him from a lifetime of pain.”

But surgeon Dr Metin Yilmaz, who carried out the operation said: “I am astonished she would think that. The operation was a simple one and it was a complete success. There were no post-operative issues and he was due to go home.”

Gazi Hospital chief surgeon Dr Kadri Altok added: “We can’t understand it. The boy’s mother did not seem to have any psychological problems and the operation went perfectly.”

Police spokesman Alper Tore confirmed: “A 37-year-old woman is in custody over the death of her son.”