Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik had an unusually close relationship with his mother and friends thought he was afraid of coming out as gay, a court heard today.

Two of the 33-year-old’s friends gave evidence at the court in Oslo in which they described the right-wing extremist as obsessed with how he looked.

Four friends were due to testify in the trial today and a statement from Breivik’s mother, Wenche Behring, will also be read out.

One of the friends said he thought Breivik was depressed or was a closet homosexual after he moved back in with his mum in 2006, Dagbladet newspaper reported.

The witness said, “I think they had a more friendly relationship than a mother and son normally have.”

The court also heard Breivik had nose surgery so he could have a more “Aryan” nose. Breivik claimed he had the surgery because he was attacked by a Pakistani man, but the former friends said they could not recall the attack. He also used powder on his face.

Both former friends spoke of Breivik’s obsession with playing computer games in his 20s, and said he would often shut out friends to play them for long periods at a time.

Breivik killed 69 people on Utoya island and another eight after bombing a government building in Oslo on July 22.

He confessed to the killings, but refuses to plead guilty claiming the shootings were “cruel but necessary” to stop the Norwegian Labour Party’s “multicultural experiment” and the “Muslim invasion” of Norway and Europe.