Charlotte Wilcock: Man jailed for murdering Blackburn mother who he 'thought was the devil'

A man who stabbed a mother-of-two to death on her doorstep because he 'thought he she was the devil' has been handed a life sentence for her brutal murder.

Anthony Stinson, 31, was given a minimum term of 24 years and two months for killing Charlotte Wilcock on 4 March 2023, after pleading guilty at Preston Crown Court.

The 31-year-old mother, who did not know Stinson, was attacked outside her home on Primrose Terrace, in Blackburn, while her baby slept upstairs.

Stinson then continued the attack inside the home, stabbing Charlotte more than 50 times before leaving her body behind the front door.

Ms Wilcock's 15-month-old child was left alone upstairs until police were alerted the next day.

Stinson was inside the property around 20 minutes, before leaving to change his bloodied clothes at his own home.

It was there that he realised he had taken Charlotte's phone and left his at the scene by mistake.

Stinson spent the night wandering from the Mill Hill area out towards Oswaldtwistle, where he turned off Charlotte's phone, and then borrowed another phone to call the police the following morning in order to hand himself in.

A recording played to the court revealed Stinson called the police to tell them he had been experiencing psychosis for "about a year".

Preston Crown Court heard how he thought Charlotte Wilcock was the devil and he attacker her to "stop the devil from laughing at him".

"I'm ringing to tell you that I have...I might have killed somebody", he told police.

CCTV footage shows Stinson buying cigarettes and alcohol in a shop 15 minutes before killing Charlotte Wilcock.

However, after his arrest when detectives searched his phone, they discovered a video of Stinson and his friend rapping about killing someone an hour before the attack took place.

CCTV enquiries also showed that just 15 minutes before the murder, he had been well enough to make conversation with a shopkeeper while buying alcohol and cigarettes.

Stinson, of Queen Victoria Street, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to her murder on the first day of a trial at Preston Crown Court on Monday, 21 August.

Sentencing Stinson, Judge Robert Altham said: "I cannot know for sure if Miss Wilcock's daughter was aware of the attack so I do not sentence on that basis, but what I do know is she was left alone in that house with her mother lying murdered."

He continued to say: "I accept there was a lack of pre-meditation, but there was an intention to kill."

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Haworth-Oates, of Lancashire Police’s Major Investigation Team, said after the sentencing: “Stinson’s explanation the following day, when he called police to report what he had done, was that he was suffering from psychosis and had thought he was attacking a cartoon of the devil.

"He maintained that defence right up until his trial was due to start on Monday, when he finally pleaded guilty to murder, after psychiatric reports failed to support that he was suffering from mental health-related psychosis.

“In reality, Stinson went out that night having consumed large quantities of drugs and alcohol, and with a knife in his pocket, intent on causing someone harm.

"Our belief is that it could have been anyone that he attacked that night – but sadly for Charlotte, and all who knew and loved her, it was her that he chose and only he will ever truly know the reason why."

A video of Stinson rapping about murdering someone was found his phone by police.

In a victim impact statement, Charlotte's mother, Carole Smalley, told the court her life was "destroyed" when Stinson murdered her daughter.

She said: "In that moment my whole world fell apart. That man has left two beautiful children without a mum and left me without a daughter - the list goes on and on.

"The ripple effect spreads further than you can imagine. It's hard to think I will never see Charlotte again and hear her laugh. My memories are already old, without the thought of making new ones.

"There'll be no more birthdays, and Charlotte's children will be without their mum for their milestones. She was not just my daughter, she was my best friend.

"Her son is just nine years old - how can his father explain to him what happened? No child should have to go through this.

"Nothing was gained by her death. Theres no reason for her death It wasn't an accident, she hadn't done anything wrong to anyone.

"She was murdered and taken from us without any explanation.

"The most frustrating question I have is why and I know I will never have the answer. I think about how she was left in the house for hours alone, how can anyone leave her like that?

"This is harrowing, devastating and unbearable. I am a different person and have lost my self confidence and am unable to leave the house

"I am a nervous wreck and that is not the person I was or who I want to be. Not only did that man take Charlotte that night but he took a piece of everyone

"I think of the destruction, devastation and loss of what's been left behind can never be repaired and as a family we have to think of a way to move on without her.

"I tried to return to work but I just could not cope. I have tried to make sense of her death and what he did to her, but I cannot understand it.

"I tried to protect her in whatever way I could and I feel terribly guilty that I could not. These are the thoughts that go through my mind and I struggle with them.

"This is not the way things should happen, you should not lose a child under any circumstances

"I suppose in a strange way, the only consolation I can find is that the world is a safer place with him behind bars

'She will never be forgotten, she was such a funny girl. There is an intense grief and sadness as I realise she will be gone forever

"She was fun, full of love and was the perfect mum, she was a normal girl who enjoyed life. We all miss you Charlotte and will never forget you."

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