A MAN who 'brutally' murdered his stepmother has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Timothy Jackson, of Mount Street, Sheffield, stabbed 78-year-old Anne Jackson multiple times at her Usk home last November while her husband slept upstairs.

Cardiff Crown Court heard last Thursday (26th March) how Jackson had developed an "irrational hatred" of his stepmother who was described as "a lovely person, and a real lady" by one neighbour.

The 49-year-old (pictured) stamped on his stepmother's face and stabbed her in the neck, shoulder and back using a kitchen carving knife.

Judge Neil Bidder QC said the murder was "particularly brutal". Her injuries included a deep wound to her neck, a further stab wound to her right shoulder and three to her back. Judge Bidder QC said that two of the wounds were very deep, they both penetrated her lungs and caused severe bleeding. He said: "I have no doubt that you intended to kill her."

Roger Thomas QC, prosecuting, said Jackson suffered with anxiety and depression. He had a problem with alcohol and would drink four to eight cans of lager a day which exacerbated his depression. The court heard how Jackson was a "bully when drunk" and would "fly off the handle."

Mr Thomas QC said Jackson threatened his stepmother before. He read an email Mrs Jackson sent to her friend on the day of her murder. She said Jackson had an "explosion of ill-will" towards her "making a permanent change in their relationship".

At around 6.50pm a 999 call was made to the police by Jackson who said: "I need the police, I just murdered someone. She tormented me, I just done it alright. I stabbed her."

The court heard how Jackson tried to place blame onto his step-mother by saying she had tormented him. However, Judge Bidder QC said there was no evidence to prove this claim and had received contrary evidence that proved she was a kind lady.

The court heard how Jackson's father, Walt Jackson, suffered with ill health and relied on Mrs Jackson to take care of him. Mr Jackson wasn't in court but his statement was read out. In it he said: "I have lost the wife I loved, she wasn't just my wife she was my carer and best friend.

"Because of my health issues I can't be left alone. Mark [his eldest son] has put his life on hold while he has helped me come to terms with things.

"I have also lost a son I loved as a result of that night. I hope as time goes on I can forgive and rekindle the relationship I had with him."

In his closing remarks, Judge Bidder QC said: "There is no evidence other than what you yourself said in your prepared statement that Mrs Jackson was ever violent or threatening towards you.

"On the contrary, the evidence before me indicates your father and stepmother supported you both materially and emotionally.

"You appear to have developed an irrational hatred of her. There is evidence that you had threatened her on a number of occasions and that on the day of the murder had wholly lost your temper with her.

"While your stepmother was in good health she was, because of her age, a vulnerable victim.

"There is some evidence put before me that you have suffered persistent depression and anxiety requiring medicative treatment but not to the extent that it reduces significantly your culpability for the murder.

"There is only one sentence which I can impose upon you and that is life imprisonment.

"I do stress that it will be for the Parole Board to decide whether to release you and they will not do so unless you satisfy them that you no longer represent a risk to the public.

"You may never be released."

The minimum fixed term Jackson will have to serve before being released is 19 years.

Anne Jackson wrote under the pseudonym Anne Cluysenaar and had her poems published in many anthologies. The court heard that she was a highly intelligent and cultivated woman.