Stefania Glowka, 64, strangled her elderly mother, Tamara Glowka, 86, with a belt at their home in Wiltshire on Christmas morning, in what was described as an ‘incredibly sad’ case
A woman who strangled her elderly mother with a belt on Christmas morning before attempting to end her own life has been sentenced to eight years in prison. Stefania Glowka, 64, murdered Tamara Glowka, 86, at their residence in Devizes, Wiltshire, on 25 December last year.
Glowka admitted to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility and was cleared of murder by a unanimous jury following a trial at Bristol Crown Court. Judge Julian Lambert told Glowka that deciding the appropriate sentence in the case was “difficult”, with Glowka expressing her desire to serve her sentence and then end her own life after her release.
The judge said: “This is an utterly extraordinary and deeply sad case. Your mother had no one else in the world but you. You had no one else in the world but your mother.
“You were devoted to one another and you loved your mother as deeply as she loved you. You showed extraordinary kindness to your mother and you gave her the highest level of care.”
The court heard Glowka had been the main carer for her mother, with whom she lived and shared a bedroom, and who had recently been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Jurors were informed Glowka, who never married or had children of her own, said she wanted to “let mum go” after both women experienced a decline in their mental health.
Glowka prepared her mother’s favourite meal on Christmas Eve, with the women spending the evening together before retiring to bed. Throughout the night, Glowka battled to sleep and felt she lacked the strength to continue caring for her mother.
She subsequently informed police it was a “spur of the moment” decision to strangle her using a belt as she got up from her bed to use the bathroom in the early hours of the morning.
Glowka then lay beside her deceased mother and attempted to take her own life, in what the judge described as “the most determined effort”.
“You did not succeed in your attempted suicide and when you awoke either from sleep or unconsciousness you rang the police and told them what you had done,” he told her.
“You admitted responsibility at the scene and when interviewed by the police.”
When officers arrived at the property, Glowka directed them to a box containing documents including a letter addressed to a close friend.
This stated: “I killed my mum as I cannot continue to look after her and I love her too much to put her into an institutionalised care.”
Two psychiatrists assessed Glowka and believed she was suffering from a recurrent depressive disorder, the court heard.
All 12 members of the jury returned following their verdict to watch Judge Lambert sentence Glowka on Tuesday afternoon.
One female juror wept as Nicholas Corsellis KC read a letter from Glowka, which she had written to the judge ahead of the verdict.
In the letter, Glowka described her mother as “the best mother in the whole world” and always made her feel “much loved and cherished”.
“I learnt from her how to tell right from wrong and I feel very bad that I let her down at her most vulnerable, when she needed me the most,” she penned.
“My crime violated so many written and unwritten codes.”
Glowka expressed remorse for “betraying the oath” she took a decade ago when she became a UK citizen and felt “very ashamed” of herself.
“The only way I can repay my debt to the country that took me in is by working in prison to improve the environment for other prisoners and staff, because they also matter,” she continued.
“I know mother would have wanted that, because she always worked so hard and was the best example I had in front of my eyes, all my life. I made myself a pariah, outside civilised society, and I feel I don’t have the right to return or belong there anymore.
“My mother is with me everyday. I talk to her and often hear her voice. I had a shining light in my life and I extinguished it. Now there is only darkness around me.”
Speaking after the case, Detective Sergeant Chris Hughes of Wiltshire Police described the incident as “incredibly sad”.
“I’d like to thank and pay tribute to all the officers who attended this incident, as well as the various staff from our partner agencies,” he said.
“It can’t have been easy on a day which revolves around family, but they dealt with this incident with the usual professionalism, care and diligence.”