A thug beat his own frail grandmother to death when he was supposed to be looking after her.
Scott McCulloch, 26, repeatedly punched and stamped on 84-year-old Patricia Bitters after he came back to the home they shared intoxicated one night.
The "sustained" attack left Ms Bitters with severe injuries and she was dashed to hospital, where the vulnerable pensioner died six days later.
A court heard Mrs Bitters had relied on McCulloch to look after her at home in Forres, Moray, in Scotland.
But the "appallingly violent assault", carried out on Sunday August 28 last year, left Mrs Bitters lifeless on her side on the floor, pressed against a cabinet with blood coming from her mouth.
McCulloch was jailed for at least 15 years today after admitting his gran's murder. Appearing by video link at the High Court in Edinburgh, the thug was visibly shaking as he was sentenced.
Judge Lord Beckett told McCulloch his actions had "devastated" Ms Bitters's family and that he had taken advantage of her vulnerability.
"She had given you a home and was entitled to expect your protection and support in return," he told McCulloch.
Lord Beckett also told McCulloch that being "under the influence of alcohol" was not an excuse for the crime.
But he reduced the time McCulloch must serve before being eligible for parole from 17 years to 15, after taking into account his remorse and his early guilty plea.
The court was told neighbours heard a disturbance and then a woman shouting, "Help, help, stop, stop, no", before they went to Ms Bitters's house on the cul-de-sac.
Wendy Harrower, one of the neighbours at the scene, asked Ms Bitters what had happened and she replied that her grandson had assaulted her.
When Mrs Harrower asked Ms Bitters why, the pensioner said: "I don't know, he just lost it."
Ms Bitters also told Mrs Harrower: "Don't leave me, I don't want to die alone. Please don't leave me when I die."
The court heard McCulloch had then asked to phone his mother, Melanie Hendry.
He was crying and slurred his words as he told her he had done "a murder" on his "granny".
Mrs Hendry asked McCulloch what he was talking about because Ms Bitters was "in her bed", the court heard.
McCulloch told him: "No, she's lying on the living room floor covered in blood."
Mrs Bitters was taken to hospital where a CT scan showed significant haematoma and haemorrhage in her brain, as well as bruising to her sternum.
The court heard her pattern of injuries were consistent with being stamped on numerous times.
Following his arrest, the court heard McCulloch wrote a letter to his mother from prison, saying he was sorry about what happened and that he hoped his grandmother would survive, before asking Mrs Hendry if she could send him money for "food and juice".
A post-mortem examination showed the victim had a subarachnoid haemorrhage, brain hypoxia, and a hardening of the arteries over many years.
Four days later, McCulloch was charged with murder.
Defending, Donald Findlay KC said McCulloch was "profoundly sorry" for his actions and that he "struggled to come to terms with them".
He told the court that while they had their differences, there was no "simmering malice" between McCulloch and his grandmother.
