Man stabbed mother and father hundreds of times in 'violent and brutal' attack in Preston
A man has been found guilty of the "violent and brutal" murder of his "devoted" parents after he stabbed them hundreds of times.
Lee Tipping, 36, stabbed his father, 60-year-old Anthony Tipping at least 131 times, and his mother, 57-year-old Patricia Livesey at least 153 times in the frenzied attack before fleeing.
The pair were only discovered when Patricia did not turn up at her mother’s for a regular lunch appointment, and no one was able to get hold of either of her or Anthony on the phone, and friends and family raised the alarm.
Police were quickly called to their home address, where Tipping and his parents lived together in Higher Walton, Preston, at around 3pm on 20 November 2020.
Officers found the couple dead upstairs, where they had both been stabbed a number of times in the head, neck and body.
Anthony also had deep penetrating wounds to his nose, ear and eyes, and stab wounds inflicted after his death.
Neighbours told the police they had heard banging and shouting coming from the address the night before, including hearing Patricia telling Lee to stop and calling for help.
It later emerged they had been listening to Tipping stabbing both his parents multiple times.
Tipping fled the address following the attack where he went to Liverpool Airport, planning to board a flight. But he returned home when he realised he did not have his Covid pass.
He later went to Manchester Airport, but again did not board a flight, as he thought the police may be looking for him. Instead he headed to a nearby hotel in Manchester, where police later arrested him.
In a police interview he admitted he had stabbed both parents, but gave various accounts of his reason why he did so.
In one account he said his father had bullied him all his life and he stabbed him in self-defence, in another he said that his father had attacked his mother so he stabbed him in defence of his mother.
When asked why he stabbed his mother, he said it was because she tried to stop the attack on his father and would have reported him to the police, so he stabbed her too.
Tipping was known to have mental health issues, having been diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia around 17 years ago and hospitalised twice.
He had previously claimed his responsibility was diminished when he stabbed his parents to death but that was rejected by two independent psychiatrists.
During the trial he claimed he was acting in self-defence, and suffered a loss of control when he stabbed his parents.
The jury found Tipping guilty of murdering them both.
Jim Mowbray, Senior Crown Prosecutor with CPS North West said: “Lee Tipping carried out a violent and brutal attack on both his parents, intending to kill them both.
“He showed them no mercy whilst he stabbed them hundreds of times. He then attempted to leave the country and when arrested, he provided a fabricated account in an attempt to absolve himself of responsibility for his actions."
Det Chief Insp Jill Johnston, of Lancashire Police, said: “This is an utterly tragic case that saw the very two people who loved and cared for Lee Tipping more than anyone else in the world, having had their lives taken away by him.
"Tricia and Anthony devoted their lives to their son and they did everything for him.
"Despite this Lee subjected them both to the most horrific, sustained and violent attack last year, that resulted in their deaths.
“Lee has shown no remorse for his actions and we know that he made extensive efforts to flee the country prior to his arrest in Manchester on the day after the murders.
He will be sentenced in July at Preston Crown Court.