A FOURTEEN year old boy who had an obsession with killer John Stape on ITV1 soap opera coronation street killed his mother
in a horrific copycat attack.
Daniel Bartlam, then 14, killed mum Jacqueline Bartlam, 47, with a claw hammer as she slept — after watching the soap villain kill his victims the same way.
Bartlam, from Redhill, Notts, then doused her body in petrol and set it alight — then neighbours she had been killed by a burglar on Easter Monday last year, April 25.
At Nottingham Crown Court today, Bartlam, now 15, was jailed for a minimum of 16 years.
The court heard that the twisted teen had spent weeks plotting his mother’s death — even going as far as to pen a play about a boy called Daniel who killed his mother and got away with murder.
On the night of the murder Daniel crept into his mother’s bedroom, where she was sleeping with his SIX year old brother Dominic
He took two hammers, one of them a claw hammer, into his mother’s room. He killed her then poured petrol on the body and set it alight.
He removed his brother from the house, and began to tell neighbours what he would later tell police in interview — that a burglar had broken into the house and killed his mother and escaped through a window.
But he was found guilty of murder after a trial earlier this year.
Speaking after the verdict, Detective Chief Inspector Kate Meynell, from Nottinghamshire Police said: “The level of violence, the degree of planning and the extent of his lies is not only shocking, but it’s also chilling that a boy could do this.
“I’ve never dealt with something like this and I’m not aware of any other case in this country. He thought he could commit the perfect murder and get away with it.”
The court heard how officers that searched the boy’s room found violent drawings and writings, along with a claw hammer and a container of cleaning fluid.
They also discovered that websites he had looked up included “Man kills wife and makes it”; “How to get away with murder”, and “People who get away with murder in shows”.
Forensic examinations of his computer also found footage of violent scenes from Trial and Retribution, EastEnders, Hollyoaks, and Coronation Street — the latter including the Stape murder scene.
Earlier this year a fourteen year old comitted rape now we have this.
I've seen pictures of this kid, this WHITE kid.
He looks like he doesn't have all the lights on upstairs.
Topic: Soap causes boy to kill mother. (Read 625 times)