91Èȱ¬

A man has been convicted of killing his mother after she was found stabbed to death in Plymouth last year.

A jury at Plymouth Crown Court heard that Callum Thomas, 33, had been violent towards Debra Cantrell, 58, and had voiced threats about killing her "over a number of years".

Her body was found a few weeks after she was believed to have been killed in May 2023.

Police were alerted by an American gamer, who had played with Thomas online and received worrying messages from him.

Thomas, of no fixed abode, denied murder but admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility - he will be sentenced in August.

Prosecutor Anna Vigars KC also told jurors that Thomas had used his mother's bank card to buy a train ticket from Plymouth to Perth in Scotland around the time she was believed to have been murdered - a journey he did not make.

"He realised he would need to run away because of what he had done to his mother," she said.

Thomas was remanded into custody and will be sentenced next month.

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