A report has revealed that more than 170 mothers across the UK have been killed by their sons in the past 15 years – nearly one in 10 of all women who died at the hands of men.
Here we look at 10 cases of mothers killed by their sons. They underline the range of ages, backgrounds and family circumstances of the victims and perpetrators, and some key factors – most strikingly, mental health problems – that led to the killings.
The data, from the Femicide Census, comes after the Guardian launched killed women count last year, a project reporting on every UK woman whose death led to a man being charged.
Mayawati Bracken, 56
Mayawati Bracken was driving her 18-year-old son Julian Bracken to the boarding school he attended when he fatally stabbed her on 4 January 2024. She lost control of the car and was found inside it by members of the public, with stab wounds to the chest.
She died at the scene from blood loss and shock. Her son had left the vehicle and was killed by a train minutes later.
An inquest into Mayawati’s death heard that paramedics had been called to the family home on Christmas Day in 2023 when Julian had a panic attack, and that there was “a lot of built-up anger” between the mother and son.
Giving evidence, one paramedic claimed Mayawati had been “overly affectionate” and said her coming into a room and trying to kiss Julian led to him becoming “riled up”.
Kelly Pitt, 44
At the time of Kelly Pitt’s murder, her son Lewis Bush, then 26, was subject to bail conditions for assaulting her, and he had been banned from contacting her.
He had multiple previous convictions, including for battery against his mother and sister, and Pitt had repeatedly reported him for coming to her house and acting aggressively.
In May 2023, Pitt called her daughter, and Bush could be heard in the background verbally abusing her. Two days later she was found on a blood-soaked bed, covered in a duvet, having died from severe blunt-force trauma to the head, neck and trunk, with internal bleeding and 41 rib fractures.
Bush was sentenced to life in prison for murder with a minimum term of 16 years.
Bhajan Kaur, 76
Sundeep Singh, 48, was living in his car on the driveway of his elderly mother’s home, and had been arrested on suspicion of controlling and coercive behaviour before he murdered her in May 2024.
He wrongly believed the family home in Leicester had been left to him by his late father, and this had caused many arguments with his mother, Bhajan Kaur, and the wider family.
On the day of her killing, Kaur let her son in to the home. Singh was later seen on CCTV buying a trolley and spade from a nearby shop. When Kaur was found dead with significant head and face injuries, her son had dug a large hole in the garden. He was jailed for at least 31 years after being convicted of murder.
Mary Haley, 75
In the weeks before she was murdered in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Mary Haley’s son Craig Haley had been aggressive and demanding money from her.
Then, in February 2020, he launched a brutal attack in which he kicked, dragged, strangled and bludgeoned his mother with an ashtray. She was found by her other son the following day with at least 55 injuries.
The other son sobbed in court as he described the moment he found his mother lying on the living-room floor. Craig had left her there, and later the same night had bought alcohol and crisps.
Sentencing Craig to a minimum of 20 years in jail for murder, the judge said: “Your crime defies the comprehension of any decent person. She was a loving and loved mother. You entered the house and took the life of someone who had given you life.”
Christine Bauld, 55
In March 2024, 23-year-old Gregor Bauld chased his mother, known as Tina, out of their house in Leicester and repeatedly stabbed her with a kitchen knife. After her death, Tina was described by a neighbour as the “smiley, loveliest woman that you could wish to meet”.
Gregor had been experiencing delusions that his mother was the leader of a war tribe, an “alien” and a “paedophile”. He was later diagnosed with schizophrenia.
On the day of the killing, he got into an argument with his parents over his persistent use of illegal drugs, which were known to affect his mental health. He was found to have LSD, ketamine and cannabis in his system.
The court heard that Gregor, an only child, had “two loving parents who lived in a comfortable and relatively affluent home environment”. The judge described the killing as “awful beyond imagination”. Gregor was given a life sentence subject to a hospital order.
Suzanne Henry, 54
Suzanne Henry was filming her son Finn Henry’s bizarre behaviour in May 2024 when he violently attacked her, punching her in the face and strangling her. She died in hospital from a traumatic brain injury two days later.
Finn’s girlfriend had called an ambulance earlier that day after finding him falling in and out of consciousness outside a Morrisons store. He told paramedics he had taken ketamine, which he had been addicted to since the age of 16, but he refused to go to hospital.
The footage captured by Suzanne at their home in Newcastle-under-Lyme showed Finn, then 20, throwing two punches to the phone camera before it fell to the ground, and he picked it up six minutes later covered in blood.
He was jailed for seven years after pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Finn’s defence lawyer told the court: “His mother was described as someone he loved and his number one. He loved her more than words can describe. When released he wants to help others avoid any position like this and highlight the risks of drug misuse.”
Lynette Nash, 64
Stuart Nash was on the phone to his wife, Lynette, when she was attacked and killed by their son, Gavin Nash, who had been diagnosed with acute psychosis.
The day before the killing in June 2023, Gavin’s family had dialled 999 due to the 39-year-old’s deteriorating state and an emergency response mental health team was sent to see him. The family were urged to call police if his condition worsened.
The next day, after first fleeing the family home in Portishead, Somerset, Gavin returned and attacked his mother with a kitchen knife while she was alone. Audio from CCTV captured him telling her no one was coming to save her and to “die you bitch, fucking die”.
Stuart Nash told the court: “Whilst I try not to blame anyone in particular, I can’t help but going over and over, again and again, the … opportunities that we all missed to save Lynette and Gavin from the horrific outcome.”
Michele Romano, 68
Neighbours called the police on 9 February 2024 over concern for 47-year-old Sebastian Compton – they had thought he was wearing red gloves, before realising it was blood and thinking he was injured.
When emergency workers arrived at his flat near Chelmsford, Essex, they found his mother, Michele Romano, had been stabbed 20 times. Compton told them: “It was not me, it was psychosis, it was an act of God. I don’t know why I did it.”
He was “undergoing acute psychosis at the time of the killing”, according to the judge, who sentenced him to a hospital order. He had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2008 and had been taking the antipsychotic drug clozapine until the end of 2023, when he stopped because he said he felt well.
Bernadette Rosario, 61
Michael Rowe, 36, stabbed his mother, Bernadette Rosario, 100 times during a psychotic episode shortly after being discharged from hospital when he became dangerous and racially abusive towards staff.
He had started having psychotic episodes at the age of 16 and tried to self-medicate with illegal drugs. His condition deteriorated in 2023 and he described feeling as if he had holes in his head. He was known to be violent and had been detained under the Mental Health Act on several occasions.
Five days before killing his mother, Rowe went to her home and tried to punch her. The court heard that Rosario had continued to support him over the years, paying his drug debts and encouraging him to get support.
Rowe admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was detained in a psychiatric unit.
Sally Poynton, 44
Sally Poynton’s death could have been avoided if her son’s mental health condition had been diagnosed sooner, an inquest found.
Jacob Poynton-Whiting, then 22, was briefly detained at a mental health unit but was discharged after 10 days without a diagnosis or support plan, and was later completely discharged from mental health services when he failed to respond to follow-up letters.
Sally had tried at least 20 times to get help for her son, while at least 10 other attempts were made by family members.
He was having a severe psychotic episode when he stabbed his mother in the neck, stomach and leg in June 2021. His younger brother managed to force him out of the house during the attack, before Jacob got back in through a broken window and continued the assault.
He admitted manslaughter due to diminished responsibility and was detained in a psychiatric hospital.
In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org
