A young man yelled ‘I want her to die’ as he stabbed his mother following a family Sunday roast dinner.
Daniel Cook, 39, told his mother Ellen she was a witch before fatally knifing her after an argument about whether he could move into her home in Littlethorpe, Leicestershire.
He accused her of poisoning her over the family meal and followed her into the kitchen where he stabbed her 30 times.
Cook, who suffers from schizophrenia, stabbed his mother before continuing to her attack her outside the house in front of neighbours.
Leicester Crown Court heard his father, Russell, told Cook ‘You’re going to kill her’ as he tried to contain his rage.
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Cook then replied: ‘That’s exactly what I want – I want her to die’.
Ellen, 72, was declared dead by paramedics 25 minutes later.
In custody, Cook remained defiant, insisting to officers that he would win the case because his mother ‘started it’ and was the ’cause of all my problems’.
‘You know the script’, he had added.
He later admitted to the charge of manslaughter with diminished responsibility.
Cook had previously threatened his mother with a knife in 2009, and was admitted to a mental health unit in 2023, the court heard.
Mary Prior KC, defending, said that said Cook would be a large risk in prison owing as he would need monitoring to ensure he took his medication and would be safer with a hospital order.
However prosecutors cited a victim impact statement from one of Cook’s sisters as evidence he would be a ‘genuine danger’ if allowed to walk free.
The sister said in her statement that Ellen just wanted her son to be ‘well and live a normal life’.
Judge Timothy Spencer KC, sentencing, said: ‘It’s clear to me your violence only had one target – your irrationally-arrived-at target of your mother.’
He continued: ‘You declared at a family meal that your mother had poisoned you. She was undeterred.
‘She loved you and she continued to support you.’
Cook was handed a life sentence and will serve a minimum of 21 years in prison before being eligible for parole.
He will stay in hospital until he is deemed medically fit to be transferred to prison.
DS Mark Sinski said: ‘This was a horrific incident with very tragic and heartbreaking consequences.
‘A family has been left utterly devastated by the events of that evening.
‘The family of Mrs Cook have shown immense bravery throughout the investigation and subsequent criminal proceedings and my thoughts continue to remain with them at this most difficult time.’
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