Coronation St copycat killer locked up for 16 years

Daniel Bartlam, a schoolboy obsessed with Coronation Street killer John Stape, was locked up for a minimum of 16 years after he was found guilty of battering his mother to death with a hammer in an echo of the television soap.

The 15-year-old studied websites titled "people who get away with murder in shows" and "how to get away with murder" before carrying out the copycat killing, a court heard.

Police also found a montage of violent scenes on his computer from other soap operas including Hollyoaks and Emmerdale, the torture film Saw, and TV crime dramas such as Trial and Retribution.

Bartlam attacked his mother Jacqueline Bartlam, 47, a Land Registry worker, with a claw hammer at their comfortable detached home in Redhill, Nottingham, last April, then padded her body with paper and started a fire using petrol in a bid to destroy any evidence and commit the "perfect murder".

The teenager initially told police she had been killed by a masked intruder, a story he kept up for several weeks, before eventually cracking and admitting he was responsible.

But Bartlam, who was 14 at the time of the offence, continued to deny murder, claiming he had lost control during a row with his mother over a pair of missing trainers.

However, he was was found guilty of the charge following a trial in February, and yesterday sentenced to life in custody by judge Mr Justice Flaux, with a recommendation he serve a minimum of 16 years. He will begin his sentence in a young offenders' institution.

The judge, who lifted restrictions preventing the naming of Bartlam, said he had carried out a "grotesque and senseless killing".

He added the murder had "very serious aggravating features", including a high degree of planning, and involved Bartlam attacking his "totally defenceless" mother with a "clear intention" to kill her.
Turning to Jacqueline's family in the public gallery, Mr Justice Flaux said: "This has been an absolutely terrible and ghastly case for you.

"I have been moved by the immense dignity you have shown jury the trial."
The judge added that Bartlam had carried out the "shocking and violent murder of a mother", and was "currently extremely dangerous".
Bartlam, who shook his head repeatedly during the sentencing hearing, glared at the gallery as he was led away.



Prosecutor Shaun Smith said the former public schoolboy had shown "a complete lack of remorse."
He added: "His only concern is himself. He now wants to know what his position as far as parole is."
Jacqueline had to be identified using dental records because of the blaze with tests revealed she had died after being repeatedly struck. She had suffered lacerations and fractures to the skull and face.

 Nottingham Crown Court heard Bartlam was "obsessed" with Coronation Street character John Stape - who battered stalker Charlotte Hoyle with a hammer before leaving her body in the wreckage of a tram crash in order to cover up his crime.

During Bartlam's trial, Mr Smith told the jury: "You will hear about a young man who immersed himself in a fantasy world; fantasy words he wrote, television drama, films he accessed by the internet and other internet sites.

"And he did that to such an extent that the prosecution say the boundaries between real life and fiction became very, very tragically blurred."
The court heard police found a story the schoolboy had written on his computer just four days before the murder about killing a woman called "Jackie" with a hammer before making the crime look like a break-in and starting a blaze.

He thought he had deleted it, but it was recovered by experts.
Bartlam initially claimed a masked intruder had murdered his mother and set fire to the house, but the truth emerged while he was on remand at a secure unit.

A female resident at the unit had annoyed Bartlam - who then blurted out to a care officer: "I could kill her, just like I killed my mum."

Bartlam went on to explain to police that he hit his mother with the hammer because she was calling him "a freak, a f***ing freak" - a term of abuse he said she used frequently.

He claimed he lashed out in a rage in a row over a pair of missing trainers - but prosecutors successfully persuaded jurors that Bartlam not only deliberately killed his mother, but had carefully researched and planned the event.