Gu Kailai blames 'mental breakdown' for murder: Xinhua

HEFEI, China (AFP) - The wife of a Chinese former top politician at the heart of a scandal that has rocked the ruling Communist Party has admitted murdering a British businessman and blamed her actions on a "mental breakdown", state media reported on Friday.

Xinhua news agency said Gu Kailai told her murder trial that she suffered the breakdown after "learning that my son was in jeopardy", in a report released the day four Chinese police officers reportedly confessed to covering up the killing of Neil Heywood.

Gu, who is accused of poisoning the 41-year-old businessman with cyanide in a hotel room last November when he was drunk, said she would "accept and calmly face any sentence" handed down by the court, Xinhua said.

She also said she would "shoulder responsibility" for losses to her party and country, it added.