Parkinson's sufferer, 62, stabbed his 100-year-old mother 'so he didn't die before she did'

By Mailonline Reporter
Last updated at 4:13 PM on 13th September 2010

A former cab driver kissed his 100-year-old mother on the cheek and said 'sorry' after stabbing her to death, a court has heard.

Michael Fitzgibbon, 62, was jailed for six years today after pleading guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

Fitzgibbon was suffering from depression as well as the onset of Parkinson's disease and struggling to cope as the main carer of his mother Hannah.

He stabbed the 100-year-old just below the neck at the home they shared in Stepney, east London, in February.

The Old Bailey heard that in his account later to a doctor he said: 'I took a knife from the kitchen and went to her bedroom, pushed her down and stabbed her.

'She shouted 'Michael' in a frightened way. Her eyes were open. I held her to comfort her. It was like a dream, not real. The time went very slowly.

'My mind was all over the place. I have never hurt anybody in my life. I kissed her on the cheek and said 'Sorry, Mum'.

'I thought she was dead. She looked younger. I had blood on my hands. I phoned my brother and the police. They turned up very quickly.

'When I stabbed her it was like I wasn't doing it.'

The court heard that when Fitzgibbon rang 999 he said: 'Everything's got on top of me. I've just gone mad.'

After being sentenced today, he asked to stand up and address his family who were in court.

Fitzgibbon said: 'I apologise to everybody. I didn't know what I was doing. I loved my mum.'

Judge Richard Hone said: 'She was a vibrant and active centenarian who had much to live for and was treasured by the wider family.'

He said there had been no real explanation given of why she was killed.

Her son Peter Fitzgibbon described how what his brother did was 'complicated and confusing' for the family.

In a statement read to the court he said: 'He has made her last memory that of her youngest son attacking her and killing her in the safety of her own home.

'He has taken from her the right to die a peaceful and dignified death surrounded by the people who love her.'

Mr Fitzgibbon said his mother's death would 'cast a shadow' over the family but that he could not bring himself to believe that his brother intended to do what he did, and he was glad the charge was reduced from murder to manslaughter.

The court heard that Fitzgibbon had been living with and looking after his mother since 2005.

For the last two years he had been suffering from the early stages of Parkinson's disease but it was only recently diagnosed, it heard.

Crispin Aylett QC, prosecuting, said: 'It would seem that his own health was deteriorating rather more quickly than that of his mother.

'He was nonetheless determined to carry on with caring for his mother even when he was finding it increasingly difficult to cope.'

The court heard Mrs Fitzgibbon, born in August 1909, had five children with her husband Joseph, of whom two lived in Australia and two in the Home Counties, and Michael was the youngest. Her husband died in 1994.

A devout Roman Catholic who used to go to Mass every day, she had been 'entirely self sufficient' but her health deteriorated after a fall around her 99th birthday and she began using a walking frame.

Michael Fitzgibbon had worked for the Royal Mail after leaving school before qualifying as a black cab driver.

In 2005 he ended up living with his mother after he was convicted of drink-driving and disqualified.

But the job of looking after her became 'more and more of a burden' after she suffered her fall in 2008. However when she celebrated her 100th birthday, with family members travelling from Australia to visit, she was 'completely lucid' although 'a little hard of hearing', the court heard.

But some relatives said they noticed that her son Michael's health was beginning to fail, as his left hand was shaking and he walked with a limp.

Meanwhile the sound of his mother's walking frame moving around would keep him awake at night and the length of time she spent in the bathroom would 'niggle' him, the court heard.

She realised he might be having difficulties and suggested that she move into a home, but he was 'determined to soldier on', Mr Aylett said.

When he was visited by a care team from Tower Hamlets Council, a week before the stabbing, he said he 'felt as though he was in a prison" and 'seemed down and very stressed', the court heard.

An appointment was made for Fitzgibbon to see a doctor - but it was due to happen the day after he killed his mother.

In two subsequent interviews with police he made no comment but at the end of them he said: 'Obviously, I'm very sorry.'

He was diagnosed with a depressive illness of 'moderate to severe nature'.
Brendan Kelly QC, defending, said Fitzgibbon had been devoted to his mother.

He said: 'He was largely the sole carer for the last five years of her life. He too, through a dreadful act on his own behalf, has suffered the death of his mother, and that is something that will live with him.'

The judge said he had to decide whether to jail Fitzgibbon or take an 'exceptional' course of a supervision order because of his poor health.

But he concluded: 'This was a terrible act. Even allowing for the Parkinson's disease, in my judgment your culpability for the killing of your mother has to be assessed as high.

'I agree with the family that you should not be too quickly released back into society.'

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1311630/Son-suffering-Parkinsons-stabbed-100-year-old-mother-death.html