Woman stabbed more than 70 times by squatter she found in her home after a holiday

Sandra Bainbridge, 70, was stabbed more than 70 times by a woman she found squatting in her home Credit: Derbyshire Constabulary

A pensioner who returned home from a holiday in Turkery to find a squatter in her home died after being stabbed more than 70 times by the woman, a court has heard.

Sandra Bainbridge, 70, returned to her home in Derby on December 9, 2013, to find drug addict Andrea Cutler had broken into her house and was living there while she was away, The Times reported.

Cutler, 39, stabbed the retired civil servant, a mother-of-three, 73 times in a frenzied attack, Nottingham crown court was told.

Cutler denied murder but admitted manslaughter on the ground of suffering a mental disorder at the time of the attack.

She was confined to a secure psychiatric unit at a hospital for an indefinite period by Judge Gregory Dickinson, QC under the Mental Health Act.

In a victim impact statement, Mrs Bainbridge's family said: "Andrea Cutler is completely responsible for the terrible crime she committed.

"She was aware that she needed to take medication, but refused to do so.

"She chose a life of drug taking and crime and rejected the treatment, help and support she was offered.

"Her conscious choices made her into what she is - a merciless and vicious killer."