Mother, 67, drops DEAD in the witness box while defending her son in court over an armed robbery as he cried 'Mum, can you hear me?'

• Kerry Frank, 67, was testifying in court and defending her son's 'good character' 
• The mother complained she felt sick before collapsing on the witness stand 
• Jarrod Frank, 43, had pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and assault

A mother has died on the witness stand while defending her son in court, who is accused of robbing a man at knife point.

Kerry Frank, 67, collapsed to the ground during her testimony at the Melbourne County Court on Tuesday where her son Jarrod Frank, 43, pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and assault in January 2020.

Court officials shouted 'code black' as they rushed to her assistance, while her son sobbed and yelled: 'Mum, mum, can you hear me?' the Herald Sun reported. 

Victoria police confirmed Ms Frank was pronounced dead later that afternoon after being rushed to hospital.

The cause of her death remains under investigation but police say the case is not being treated as suspicious.

Ms Frank had told the court that her son, who was found not guilty of a fatal stabbing in 2018, was living in a granny flat on her property in Eppalock in Central Victoria, when he was charged with the knifepoint robbery of Adam White in January 2020.

She described him as a man of 'good character' and said he shared a close relationship with her and his sister, as well as his 'adoring' nieces and nephews.

Shortly after Ms Frank told the court she 'felt sick' and collapsed in the dock.

The court heard that Frank was seen by a witness kicking down the door of Mr White's home, a man he had known since childhood. 

Frank then entered the home and punched Mr White in the head before brandishing a kitchen knife and demanding cash.

Police bizarrely recounted that when they arrived at the scene the two men were staring at each other while sitting at opposite ends of the kitchen table.

When investigators executed a search warrant at Ms Frank's property they discovered similar kitchen knives believed to be used in the burglary.

Judge Felicity Hampel noted that the knife crime occured when Frank was on bail facing a murder charge.

'He was on bail charged with a stabbing murder … and then here he is armed with a knife,' Ms Hampel said.

'Human behaviour is very strange.'

Frank fatally stabbed Scott Bury in his home on January 3, 2018 in what was ruled an act of self-defence.

The pair were having an argument about what type of ammunition German soldiers used in their Luger handguns during WWII before placing a $500 bet on the answer.

Mr Bury said he knew the answer was 9mm because he'd once robbed a bank with that gun.

After the argument erupted Mr Bury attacked Frank with a metal bar and two knives before he was stabbed in the chest.

Frank's current matter has been adjourned with a sentencing date not yet determined.