A man with schizophrenia who brutally stabbed his own mother to death outside her Midlands home has been sentenced to life in prison.
A Fatal Attack in Littlethorpe
Daniel Cook, aged 39, inflicted approximately 30 stab wounds on his 72-year-old mother, Ellen Cook, using two knives at their family home in Biddle Road, Littlethorpe, Leicestershire. The horrific attack occurred on the evening of May 11.
The court heard that Cook followed his mother into the kitchen before the assault began. His father, Russell Cook, heard screaming and discovered his wife on her knees in the garage, with their son holding a large kitchen knife.
Despite crawling away, Ellen Cook was pursued by her son into the street, where he continued to stab her 'again and again' as she lay gravely injured on the ground.
A History of Mental Illness and Paranoia
Leicester Crown Court was told that Daniel Cook had suffered from psychosis for over two decades. He held a 'warped view' that his mother was a witch who had forced medication on him as a child.
Weeks before the killing, he had accused her of poisoning him at a family dinner. His mental state had been declining, a situation exacerbated when he stopped taking his anti-psychotic medication in 2020, believing he was well.
Cook failed to attend a crucial mental health review in March 2025, just two months before he took his mother's life. Prosecuting, John Lloyd-Jones KC said the defendant had an 'illogical mistrust' of the NHS.
A Family's Devastation and a Life Sentence
During the attack, when his father pleaded, "that's enough, you're going to kill her," Cook chillingly replied: "That's exactly what I want, I want her to die." He was eventually tasered and arrested by police at the scene.
Ellen Cook, who sustained catastrophic injuries to her chest and abdomen, could not be saved and was pronounced dead.
Cook admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. On December 17, he was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 21 years, subject to a hospital order. This means he will initially serve his sentence in a hospital until deemed well enough for prison.
In emotional victim statements, Cook's sister, Melissa, revealed their mother's 'biggest fear' was that her son would commit a violent act and end up in prison. Another sister, Sophie Jovetic, described her brother as a 'Jekyll and Hyde' character, whose dark side emerged under stress.
Detective Superintendent Mark Sinski from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit described the incident as horrific, with 'tragic and heartbreaking consequences' that have left a family utterly devastated.
Defence barrister Mary Prior KC stated there were 'no winners' in the case, acknowledging the lifelong price Cook would pay and the unfillable hole left in the family. Cook, formerly of Atkinson Road, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sat silently throughout the sentencing hearing.
