A teenager who beat his mother to death with a hammer and burned her body in a murder inspired by a Coronation Street storyline has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years. Daniel Bartlam, now 16, was 14 when he killed his mother Jacqueline at their home in Redhill, Nottingham, on 25 April last year.
Nottingham Crown Court heard how Bartlam struck his mother seven times with a claw hammer before pouring petrol around her bedroom, placing newspaper on a gas fire and setting the home alight. Her body was identified by dental records. Initially, Bartlam told police an intruder was responsible, then claimed he lost control after an argument. However, detectives found a deleted story on his computer in which a character named Daniel Bartlam killed his mother in identical circumstances, inspired by a Coronation Street plot where a character killed a woman with a hammer.
Bartlam denied murder, claiming provocation, but was unanimously convicted by a jury in February. Sentencing him, Mr Justice Julian Flaux described the killing as 'grotesque and senseless' and said Bartlam appeared to have wanted 'to get away with the perfect murder'. The judge lifted reporting restrictions to allow naming of the teenager.
Detective Chief Inspector Kate Meynall, who led the investigation, said: 'The level of violence, degree of planning and extent of his lies is not only shocking, but it is also chilling that a boy of 14 could do this.' She added that Bartlam had lied consistently and attempted to 'besmirch Jacqueline's character'.
In a statement, Jacqueline Bartlam's parents said Daniel's attempts to depict her as a bad mother 'couldn't be further from the truth'. They described her as 'a wonderful, loving and caring woman' and said the family was struggling to come to terms with the murder. 'There are no winners here because not only have we lost Jacqui, but we have lost Daniel too because of what he's done,' they said.
