Schizophrenic who fatally stabbed his retired instructor mom 30 occasions after accusing her of being a witch is handed life sentence

A retired teacher was knifed 30 times by her schizophrenic son a day after she told her daughter he had ‘come to some sort of crisis’.

Daniel Cook, 39, was handed a life sentence subject to a hospital order today after a judge heard how Ellen Cook, 72, was fatally attacked at her home.

A court heard how Mrs Cook, who had recently become a grandmother, crawled through her garage to the street outside in a bid to escape from Cook, only for him to follow her and continue his attack, leaving her lying in the road.

During his sentencing hearing at Leicester Crown Court on Friday, the court heard that a couple of weeks before the killing, Cook accused his mother of poisoning him at a family dinner and had also accused her of being a witch.

Mrs Cook sent a message to her daughter the night before she was stabbed to death expressing concern that Cook was struggling to sleep and had ‘come to some sort of crisis’.

Judge Timothy Spencer KC handed Cook a sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years subject to a hospital order, meaning he will serve his sentence in hospital until he is well enough to be transferred to prison.

In a victim impact statement, Cook’s sister Melissa Cook said: ‘My mum’s biggest fear was for Danny to do something violent and spend his life in prison.’

Leicester Crown Court heard the attack was witnessed by Cook’s father and neighbours, who dialled 999. 

But the mother-of-three was pronounced dead at the scene after being found covered in blood in the middle of the road. 

Cook, who had returned inside the house at Littlethorpe, near Leicester, was arrested when he emerged to confront police with a large knife, and was tasered. 

The defendant, who had suffered from schizophrenia since he was a teenager, pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility – which was accepted by prosecutors in October. 

John Lloyd-Jones KC, prosecuting, said Cook was first admitted to a mental health unit at the age of 17, where he spent around three weeks as an inpatient before being diagnosed with delusional disorder and prescribed medication. 

He then fell under the medical care of his GP and adult psychiatric services – with the court hearing it was ‘loving’ Mrs Cook who ‘took the brunt’ of caring for her son on a daily and weekly basis.

Mr Lloyd-Jones added that in 2020, Cook stopped taking his anti-psychotic medication and attending mental health appointments – and began ‘gradually declining’ as a result, with his disorder exacerbated by heavy drinking. 

The prosecutor said he had an ‘inherent distrust’ of the NHS and medical professionals as a result of his condition, and was invited to a mental health review two months before the killing – but didn’t attend. 

The hearing was told that in the period before attacking his mother, Cook’s belief that his mother was to ‘blame’ for his condition ‘gained momentum’. 

Mr Lloyd-Jones said: ‘He formed the warped view that she forced medication on him when he was child, and on occasion shouted at her, accusing her of being a witch.’ 

He added that two weeks prior to the attack, Cook had stood up at a family Sunday lunch and accused Mrs Cook of ‘poisoning’ him. 

But he told the court that Cook’s behaviour ‘didn’t deter her in her duty of caring for her son’, and described how the day before her death, Mrs Cook had accompanied Cook to his house in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, to tidy it. 

Cook then spent the night at his parents’ home, with his mother messaging one of her two daughters to relay her fears he was approaching a mental health crisis.

The court heard that the following day, Cook was present when his mother said she was ‘putting her cards on the table’, and announced she didn’t want him to come back to live with his parents full-time. 

However the pair, and Cook’s father, Russell, went on to have dinner and watch television together, before Mrs Cook headed into the kitchen, followed by her son. 

Mr Lloyd-Jones said Mr Cook senior then heard screams coming from the adjoining garage, and found his wife on her knees there with his son holding a ‘large, bloody knife’. 

Mr Lloyd-Jones added that Mr Cook tried to push his son away, but was knocked over. Mrs Cook crawled through the open garage door and managed to make it into the street, while screaming for help. 

However, the hearing was told Cook followed her and, ‘ignoring further requests from his father to stop, repeatedly stabbed his mother full force in various places, including the back, and stabbed her when she was on ground’. 

Mr Lloyd-Jones said: ‘Despite the efforts of his father and a neighbour, he returned to stab her again and again, even though she was gravely injured.’ 

He added that Cook was told by Russell, ‘That’s enough, you are going to kill her’. However, he was heard to respond: ‘That’s exactly what I want. I want her to die.’

 Dramatic police bodycam footage played in court showed Cook – still holding a knife – confronting officers. He was Tasered when he refused to comply with orders to drop the weapon.

Mr Lloyd-Jones said that after his arrest, Cook, whose online business buying and selling books and clothes was struggling financially, blamed his mother as ‘the source of all his problems’. 

He added pathological evidence showed Mrs Cook had been stabbed 30 times, with ‘penetrating’ wounds to her chest and abdomen which caused injuries to her right lung, liver, stomach and large intestine and resulted in ‘heavy internal bleeding’. 

She also had defensive injuries to her hands. The court heard Cook was later examined by three psychiatrists, all of whom concluded he was suffering from an ‘abnormality of mental functioning’ at the time of the killing. 

In moving victim impact statements read to the court by Mr Lloyd-Jones, Mrs Cook’s husband, and daughters, Sophie Jovetic and Melissa Cook, told how the incident had ‘ruined’ their lives.

In her statement Mrs Jovetic, who sat in court with her father during the hearing, said: ‘Losing my mum in such a horrendous way has ripped my life apart. 

‘A day doesn’t pass when I don’t think about how she must have felt in her final moments, knowing she was going to die at the hands of her own son.’ 

She said all her mother ever wanted ‘was for him to be happy and healthy, and had advocated for him throughout his life, despite the stress he had caused her.’

‘Do I think he is evil? No. But he is a very angry and dangerous man.’

Mary Prior KC, defending Cook, told the court that he had not been under the influence of alcohol or drugs when he killed his mother, although his previous relapses had been exacerbated by excessive drinking.

She said: ‘He will pay a lifelong price for that because no-one was able to help him as much as she was.’

Judge Tim Spencer KC, sentencing, told Cook he had developed a ‘warped’ view that his mother had forced medication on him.

During the attack, the judge said, he showed his mother ‘absolutely no mercy’.

The judge said that as a result of Cook stopping his medication and refusing to attend mental health appointments, and his abuse of alcohol, his ‘retained culpability is at the highest level, and there is a real need for a penal element to the sentence’. 

He added: ‘I am very clearly of the view that you are dangerous.’ As he left the dock flanked by three guards, Cook and his father waved to each other.