A Merseyside man who stabbed and beat his 70-year-old mother to death with a golf club has been handed an indefinite hospital order. Graham Daly, 45, admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility after killing Phyllis Daly at the family home on Clent Road in Maghull on July 13 last year.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that Daly, a former shop security guard, was experiencing "paranoid, persecutory delusions" at the time. He was sentenced on Friday afternoon after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing.
Attack at Family Home
Phyllis Daly had been at home on the morning of the attack, with her husband Dave having gone out to play golf. She had spoken to her daughter Angela on the phone at around 10.15am and later sent an email saying she "wasn't going to allow Graham to play his music so early".
Neighbours heard arguing within the address at around 10.30am before Graham Daly emerged shortly before 11.30am "bare-chested and barefooted". Peter Glenser KC, prosecuting, said Daly made his way to the Stanley Arms public house, driving very fast with a traffic cone wedged underneath his car.
Arriving at the pub in an "extremely agitated state", wearing only shorts and with blood on his knuckles, arms and feet, Daly spoke to two members of staff. Mr Glenser said his behaviour was "very odd" and that he made alarming comments, including saying he could rape one of the women and get rid of her body. He also repeated that he had done something bad.
Daughter Discovers Body
Daly told police officers he "couldn't remember what happened" but had "been on a bender and blacked out", before stating: "My mum tried to kill me today and I defended myself. I killed her." When asked whether his mum was okay, he replied "no, I killed her".
Angela Daly became concerned when her mother did not reply to attempts to contact her, and attended the family home shortly after 12.45pm. She found Phyllis's lifeless body lying face down on the kitchen floor. Phyllis Daly's life was formally pronounced extinct at 1.24pm that day.
A post-mortem revealed Phyllis had been the "victim of a sustained attack with multiple weapons", including two stab wounds to either side of her neck and a further eight puncture wounds and 25 incised wounds across her neck and upper limbs. The pathologist also found evidence of a significant blunt force assault, believed to have been with a "golf club or golf clubs", resulting in five lacerations to the back of her head, a fractured skull and "direct trauma to the brain".
Family Tributes
In a statement read to the court, Angela Daly described finding her mother as "a scene of unimaginable horror". She said: "My mum was my world, and she was a true inspiration. She was the beating heart of our family and much loved and respected amongst friends and neighbours."
Dave Daly, in a pre-recorded video statement, said he met Phil in 1971 and married in 1975. He described her as "the rock on which our little family was built" and said: "I never saw her again. I never got a chance to say a proper goodbye."
Consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Hasanen Al-Taiar detailed how Daly had been suffering from schizophrenia with symptoms of bipolar disorder, which made "a substantial and direct contribution to him killing his mother".
Sentence
Judge Neil Flewitt KC imposed a Section 37/41 hospital order, meaning Daly will be detained in a secure psychiatric facility until it is deemed safe for him to be released. The judge said: "I unhesitatingly agree with your family that you are a dangerous offender."
Following the hearing, the family paid tribute to Phyllis, saying: "Phyllis was the most compassionate person anyone could wish to know. Her kindness, her warmth, her smile and her love will never be forgotten."
