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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Rachel Smith & Milica Cosic

Chilling last message sent by doting parents just before son murdered them

The prophetic chilling last message of a couple has been revealed, moments before they were brutally murdered by their son.

Tricia Livesey, 57, and Anthony Tipping, 60, were last seen at the Swan Inn in Higher Walton on Friday, November 19, 2021, with her sister Catherine Riding and Catherine's husband Martin, where they met weekly for a catch-up, reported Lancs Live.

As Tricia prepared to leave the pub, she told her sister she did not want to go home, saying: "You never know, this might be my last gin".

It has been reported that Tricia's reluctance to return to the family property stemmed from the recent behaviour of her and Anthony's only son, Lee, and upon hearing this Catherine offered her sister a bed for the night.

However, Tricia turned her down and returned home with Anthony. Her chilling last messages to her sister say that they had arrived home, adding that Lee was being "a f*****g s**t."

Lee first attacked Anthony, but when Tricia tried to intervene, he turned the knife on her (Lancashire Police / SWNS)

A few minutes later she sent another message, which read: "Please God, will someone help us?"

Recalling the evening before meeting up at the pub, Anthony's brother Stuart told Preston Crown Court that his mood changed when he received a phone call from their son, Lee, telling him he had broken their bedroom door.

He said: "We always had a fear that Lee would take over and control Tip and Tricia's lives as they got older, but we never could have imagined he would go to the lengths he has done and take the lives of the two people who loved him unconditionally. "

It has been said that as a child, Lee was a loner and did not play out with the other children in the village - but as he entered his late teenage years, he developed a mental health condition.

When Lee was aged 19 and 22, he spent time as an inpatient on a psychiatric unit before being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Lee was handed a life sentence (Lancashire Police)

For a number of years, Lee's condition was stable, with professional support and a regular medication regime. But in March 2020, he stopped taking his medication.

Unbeknown to his parents, Lee started flushing the antipsychotic drugs down the toilet. Medical records showed he took no medication in August, September and November 2021.

Despite making plans to attend a music college in Manchester to pursue his dream of becoming a DJ - by November 2021, Lee's mental health deteriorated.

His course leader said he looked drained and on November 19, told him to rest over the weekend. In court, the defendant said he had not been sleeping and knew he was becoming unwell.

When Tip and Tricia returned from the pub, shortly after 11pm, their son launched a savage attack. He picked up a knife from the landing and hacked at his parents in a merciless frenzy.

Suspicions were raised when Tricia did not attend her regular Saturday lunch with her mum Cecilia and her sisters (Lancs Live/MEN Media)

He attacked Anthony first but when Tricia tried to intervene, Lee turned the knife on her. He inflicted more than 300 separate injuries upon his parents, and used an aerosol to launch a flamethrower at his dad.

The following day, when Tricia did not turn up for her regular Saturday lunch, the family raised the alarm.

Police went to the house to find the lifeless bodies of Anthony and Tricia upstairs - but Lee was nowhere to be seen.

After stabbing his parents to death, Tipping washed the knife and placed it into his father's hand to make it look like he was the aggressor.

He drove to Liverpool Airport in a bid to leave the country, but realising he did not have his Covid pass, he returned home, before setting off again to Manchester Airport.

However, he was arrested as he tried to book into a Premier Inn. Lee told armed officers his father had attacked him so he took the knife from him and stabbed him to death.

It was the beginning of a web of lies told by the paranoid killer, as he tried to paint himself as the victim.

Two psychiatrists, Drs Barlow and Baker, who examined Tipping at Guild Lodge, agreed he was suffering an enduring psychotic illness, with entrenched patterns of thinking, cognitive deficits and difficulties with personal relationships. They said the paranoid schizophrenia did not substantially impair his ability to understand his actions, but may have impaired his decision-making.

The scene at Cann Bridge Street last year (James Maloney/Lancs Live)

Handing down a sentence of life, with a minimum term of 27 years, the Rt Hon Mr Justice Goose said: "Before you stopped taking your medication your symptoms were ameliorated; afterwards they began to return, and you realised that. In your evidence you described that you were becoming more ill, yet you didn’t seek help or take the medication that you still possessed.

"I am satisfied that there is a real connection between your increasing mental illness, in the months leading up to these murders, and what you did. Your culpability for these offences was significantly reduced by your mental disorder.

"It must be recognised, however, that you had some insight into what was happening to you. You were aware that you were becoming more ill and that it was caused by your decision to stop taking your medication. Although I accept that you did not know that it would lead you to commit murder."

In a moving victim impact statement on behalf of the family, Stuart Tipping said: "Lee is our nephew, We hate him for what he has done and we cannot get past the fact he has killed them and we will never forgive him for taking them from us.

"Every single day I walk past Tip and Tricia's home when walking my dogs. It serves as a lasting reminder that I have lost two loved ones. My sister Trish still visits frequently to keep the garden tidy. Even though they have gone, we want to keep their home up to their standards as Tip and Tricia poured so much love into it."

Lee Tipping is now beginning a life sentence and must serve a minimum term of 27 years before he is eligible to apply for parole.

However, he will not be released unless the Parole Board is satisfied he no longer poses a risk, and will be on licence for the rest of his life.

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