Schizophrenic man stabbed mother to death thinking she was an alien

A schizophrenic drug user who stabbed his mother to death outside their £1m home after becoming convinced she was an alien who was abusing him has been given a life sentence.

Gregor Bauld launched a violent attack on Tina Bauld, 55, following a row with his parents over his use of illegal substances. A court heard he believed his mother was the leader of one of two tribes who were at war.

The 23-year-old chased Mrs Bauld out of the property before striking out repeatedly with a 12-inch kitchen blade in a frenzied assault that was captured on CCTV and witnessed by his horrified father, Tom.

He then walked back inside, telling police when they arrived on the scene that his mother was a 'paedophile' who 'deserved it'.

A cocktail of hard drugs were later found to be in Bauld's system, including LSD, Ketamine, cannabis, and prescription medication he bought on the dark web.

He admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility at Leicester Crown Court, but denied murder.

However, jurors cleared him of the charge following a trial last month in which medical experts said they believed the offence was driven more by Bauld's diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia than his illicit drug use. 

When he returned for sentencing today, Bauld was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 13 years and eight months in prison - subject to hospital order under Section 45a of the Mental Health Act.

The so-called 'hybrid' order means that Bauld will start his sentence in a secure mental health unit, but will be transferred to jail if he is ever considered fit enough for release within that period.

Read More

How well-off 'mummy's boy' killed mother with kitchen knife... and evaded murder charge

Judge Tim Spencer KC told him while he had a long history of what 'on the jury's verdict is schizophrenia', that history was 'characterised by [his] voluntary ingestion of drugs of abuse' and meant he still bore a heavy responsibility for his mother's death outside the family's home in Burbage, Leicestershire.

He added: 'In terms of impairment within the Act, Dr Garrett, your treating clinician, found you were aware of the nature of your act, and you retained the ability to exercise self-control.

'No-one could seriously suggest that drugs of abuse have not contributed to the various episodes of psychotic behaviour.

'You started taking cannabis at 13 or 14. You were socially awkward, and took solace in drugs. This has clearly contributed to your psychotic episodes which now extend over eight or nine years.

'You must have been aware that your drug abuse was a factor in your mental health difficulties, but you continued to take them.'

The judge said that in the run-up to the March killing, which he described as 'awful beyond imagination' and a 'brutal, shocking taking of life', Bauld 'heavily engaged in accessing illegal drugs and high level drugs of abuse'.

He added: 'You, Gregor Bauld, must have been aware your drug abuse was a factor in mental health difficulties but continued to take drugs.

'Putting all that together, while accepting this is a manslaughter case and your responsibility is diminished, your responsibility for your own psychotic condition is clear and heavy.

'In terms of impairment of mental ability, Dr Garrett found you were aware of the nature of your act and retained the ability to exercise self control. Your responsibility for killing your mother is a heavy one.'

Read More

Pictured: Son with mother he is accused of stabbing to death at their £1m home in leafy Leicestershire village

Judge Spencer said the impact on Bauld's family was 'incalculable', with his father telling the jury he no longer wished to go on living.  

'You ended the life of one parent, and have brought the other parent to that miserable position,' Judge Spencer said.

Bauld's trial heard how the only child lived with his 69-year-old father, a company executive, and mother at the time of the attack, which took place at 11.15am on the morning of March 3. 

Gordon Aspden, prosecuting, told jurors: 'By all accounts this defendant was a well brought-up young man, with two loving parents who lived in a comfortable and relatively affluent home environment.

'However as he got older and entered his early teens, his life became blighted by chronic drug abuse and associated mental ill-health problems.'

Mr Aspden said Bauld had had a 'longstanding drug problem' since the age of 13 or 14 and was 'in the grip of a destructive cycle of drug abuse' at the time of the killing.

Mary Prior, defending, told the sentencing hearing today: 'This defendant had underlying and untreated schizophrenia since at least 2022.

'Prior to that, he had a history of plain mental health difficulties, which arose whether he had taken drugs or not.

'This is a man who was very seriously mentally ill. He genuinely believed the world was at war between two tribes, and the woman he loved most became the leader of one of those tribes, was abusing him, and wanted to kill the world.

Read More

Son, 23, was high on LSD, ketamine and cannabis when 'he stabbed mother' court hears

'It is right and fair to say he took drugs. Quite how much that impacted on what occurred cannot be said, in our opinion.

'He is still very, very seriously unwell with schizophrenia, having been on a regime where he must take his medication and cannot take illegal drugs.

'His level of schizophrenia remains very high. He still presents a danger to himself, other prisoners, and others he comes into contact with.'

Three days before Mrs Bauld was killed, her son obtained a new job at a logistics firm which was 'great news for all concerned', the trial heard.

However, the following night Mr Bauld had found his son sniffing drugs off a saucer after hearing 'howling' noises coming from his room - and was forced to put him to bed because he was 'so addled he could not function properly'.

The court heard he confiscated and hid the substances, and told Bauld the next day that he'd flushed them away - something which left him 'very emotional'.

Mr Aspden said Bauld promised he wouldn't take any more drugs - but on the morning of the fatal attack on Mrs Bauld, he was spotted desperately searching for something in his car.

His suspicious father searched a pair of his tracksuit bottoms while he was in the shower - and found two plastic bags containing tablets, which sparked a confrontation between the pair.

The jury heard Mr Bauld said he had disposed of those drugs, too, with the younger man becoming 'angry, agitated and emotional'.

Mr Aspden added: 'In response the defendant had become very angry and agitated and emotional. He had started shouting that he needed the tablets to control, as he put it, his anxiety and nerves.

'Mr Bauld said that he had offered to take the defendant to the doctors to get him help – something he had offered on many previous occasions.'

The court was told Mr Bauld then joined his wife in the downstairs living room while their son could be heard 'banging around' upstairs - resulting in Mrs Bauld deciding it would be 'better for her to leave the house'.

She went to take the family's dog for a walk, but Mr Aspden said the next thing Mr Bauld remembered was his wife shouting that 'Gregor had a knife'.

The prosecutor said: 'He said that the defendant had then chased Tina down the hallway and out of the front door, onto the drive.

'Once outside, he recalled the defendant had stabbed her twice with a knife. As she had been cowering on the ground, he stabbed her again.'

Paramedics were called and were greeted by a 'truly awful' scene, with Mrs Bauld 'gravely injured' and bleeding on the floor.

Despite 'frantic and prolonged' attempts to save her, she was pronounced dead where she lay, Mr Aspden said.

He added Bauld 'appeared unconcerned and his manner was quite matter of fact' when he was told about his mother's death.

Toxicology tests revealed the traces of LSD, ketamine, a sister drug of ketamine called norketamine, cannabis and a sedative called diphenhydramine.

Mr Aspden said that with the exception of the cannabis, the results were consistent with all the drugs having been taken in the past 24 hours.

Prosecution barrister Gordon Aspden KC said: 'There was abundant evidence of prolonged and persistent use of illegal drugs which would have a significant impact on his mental health.

'The defendant was aware of the effects those drugs could have on his behaviour having been previously sectioned. Nonetheless, he chose to use those drugs running up to the killing of his mother. He made choices in this case.'

The court was told Mrs Bauld sustained four separate stab wounds on the morning of the attack and a pathologist determined her cause of death as a wound to the back.

Sentencing the defendant, Judge Timothy Spencer KC said: 'This killing was awful beyond imagination. It was a brutal, shocking taking of life.

'Your mother died in the road outside your house, and her house, with your father next to her as life expired with you watching on.

'The impact of this killing of your mother is described rightly by the prosecution as incalculable.

'You must have been aware that your drug abuse was a factor in your mental health difficulties but you continued to take drugs.'