A 35-year-old man has been jailed for life for murdering his “vulnerable” bed-bound mother in a hammer attack. Michael Bowen was found guilty at Winchester Crown Court of the murder of 65-year-old Janet Bowen at their home in Maple Gardens, Yateley, Hampshire, in the early hours of New Year’s Eve last year.
Life sentence for 'brutal and senseless' killing
Bowen was jailed for life to serve a minimum of 16 years for the “brutal and senseless” killing. The court heard that Bowen hit his mother, who had recently suffered a stroke, over the head and face with the hammer more than 10 times.
Sentencing Bowen, Judge Adam Feest KC said it had been a “ferocious and sustained attack” and added: “It is impossible to imagine the terror that she experienced in the final moments of her life or the emotional distress she was under knowing that it was her own son committing this act of serious violence against her.”
Family statement on drug use
His family said that Bowen, who was a carer for his mother, had been a “caring, loving son” who had been changed by his “heavy” drug use.
