A man has admitted killing his mum by stabbing her 33 times at their home in Aberdeen.
Jordan Milne launched the frenzied attack just weeks after his mother Carol Milne had raised fears for her safety and tried to get her son admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
The 29-year-old lashed out at the family home in Clifton Road shortly after he watched a wildlife programme with his mother and father, Norman.
His dad – who was suffering from brain tumour at the time and has since died – left the pair and went to bed after taking a sleeping tablet. He found his wife’s bloodstained body at the bottom of the bed the next morning, alongside a kitchen knife.
Milne, who was initially charged with murder, admitted culpable homicide due to diminished responsibility at the High Court in Glasgow today.
Afterwards, Mrs Milne’s son Curtis described her as a “special person” who was missed every day.
Describing the last 19 months as “harrowing”, he revealed his father had lost the will to live after the tragedy and had declined “both physically and mentally” as a result. He died earlier this month.
Police called twice in weeks leading up to tragedy
The court heard that in the weeks leading up to her death, 59-year-old Mrs Milne had called the police amid concerns her son would damage her car or house after she refused him cash.
On that occasion, on June 22, 2019, Milne told officers his mother was overreacting because he had drunk the last of the milk.
Two days, later on June 24 2019, she phoned the police again.
Advocate depute Angela Gray QC said: “She told the operator her son had mental health problems and that he needed to go to a psychiatric hospital, but nobody was listening to her.”
She was told to contact NHS 24 and to dial 101 as “on the information provided, it wasn’t a life-threatening situation.”
However, police did speak to Milne and his mother and it was agreed he could stay if he stopped playing loud music and helped around the house.
However, he launched his fatal attack on July 10, 2019.
Killer claimed ‘evil’ mum had stopped him seeing his children
When quizzed by police Milne told them his mother was evil and claimed she had stopped him from seeing his children. In reality, he had none.
A post-mortem examination revealed 33 stab wounds to Mrs Milne’s face, neck, torso, arms and upper back as well as scalding from a kettle of water.
Miss Gray added: “Major vessels of the neck, the internal jugular vein and carotid artery were the most significant stab wounds resulting in the most extensive injuries which caused Carol’s death.”
She added that Milne had told officers he “wouldn’t hurt a fly unless provoked” but accepted he had mental health problems and had contemplated suicide many times.
The court heard that Milne’s behaviour had changed after he returned from New Zealand in April 2018 after losing his job and his father’s cancer diagnosis.
Milne was examined by psychiatrists and it was agreed he suffered from a “mental disorder that had the effect of diminishing responsibility”.
Judge Lord Burns deferred sentence on Milne, who appeared via a video link, and sent him to the State Hospital under an interim compulsion order.
The case will call again in April.