A mentally ill man who killed his parents at their Skipton home is being sentenced at Bradford Crown Court today.

David Taylor, 37, has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of John and Beverley Taylor due to diminished responsibility.

Taylor was brought to court from Rampton Secure Hospital where he is detained by the Secretary of State under the Mental Health Act.

Jonathan Sandiford KC, for the Crown, said Mr and Mrs Taylor, both 66, were killed at their home in Regent Crescent.

Mr Sandiford said Taylor had always lived there with his parents. Just before 7am on December 21, 2021, a neighbour heard a woman screaming: ‘Don’t come near me’ or ‘Stay away from me.’ Taylor made a 999 call to the police saying he had stabbed his parents to death. He was repeatedly swearing about what he had done, appreciating the enormity of his actions and being fully aware of what he had done, the court was told.

He said he was alone at home with his parents and had ‘both knives in his bedroom’ and had found another ‘big chopping knife.’ Mr Sandiford said the police were there at 7.46am. Taylor was waiting for them on the front doorstep. He was compliant, handcuffed and arrested saying he had stabbed both his parents.

His mother was in the living room and his father was wedged by the front door. Both were declared dead at the scene.

Mrs Taylor had 95 sharp force injuries, including 48 stab wounds. She had suffered significant and quickly fatal blood loss. She had defensive injuries to her right hand and upper arms.

Mr Taylor had sustained 188 uses of a knife to his body, with 34 stab wounds into an area of his back. He had no defensive wounds.

Mr Sandiford said he was probably taken by surprise and stabbed multiple times.

His wife must have been aware of the attack and sustained defensive injuries when she tried to ward Taylor off.

He wasn’t well enough to be interviewed by the police, the court was told.

A school friend of the defendant said when they were 14 or 15, Taylor developed an addiction to fruit machines.

He was treated with an anti-psychotic drug on occasions over the years and in June or July, 2020, he was admitted to hospital after hearing voices and was reported to have assaulted members of staff.

He said he had heard voices telling him to kill others and himself. He missed appointments after he was released from hospital.

In September, 2020, he was admitted to Lynfield Mount Hospital in Bradford and in December that year, he said he was hearing voices telling him to murder someone.

He continued to fail to attend appointments while no longer in hospital and decided to reduce his own medication because he didn’t like the side effects.

He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and in September, 2021, he failed to attend appointments with the community psychiatric nurse and said the voices in his head had now gone.

On December 16, he phoned his doctor and arranged an appointment for December 20, the day before his parents were killed. He was given a new prescription but was unable to obtain it because the pharmacist didn’t have it in stock.

Judge Jonathan Rose pointed out that Taylor wasn’t taking his medication anyway and any new prescription would have needed time to take effect.

Family members and friends said there was a loving relationship between Taylor and his parents. It had never crossed anyone’s mind that he would kill them.

A statement read out in court on behalf of the Taylor family, spoke of how amazing their parents were and the terrible pain felt at their loss. The family had suffered months of trauma, disbelief and absolute sadness.

The brother they loved was responsible for the tragedy. They had struggled with the hurt and conflict of emotion.

They had learned that when their brother was scared and in turmoil he didn’t get the help he so desperately needed.

The family wanted to remember their parents not for how they died but for how they lived their lives.

Earlier in the hearing, Dr King, a psychiatrist, said Taylor was more likely to kill again if he was returned to prison from a secure mental hospital.

The doctor had grave concern that he could become more psychotic. That could bring about ‘murderous or significant harm to others’ without the right treatment and monitoring.

Dr King said it was difficult to have sufficient overseeing and input in a prison setting.

Taylor could be very dangerous and it could be quite a while before problems were picked up. The doctor had seen people ‘going under the radar’ and one should not take any risks of that sort.

Dr King said Taylor could be manipulative. People with his condition were very often like that.

Taylor’s defence team said he had made ‘sporadic and inconsistent progress’ in Rampton and he was likely to be detained there for a very long time.

He suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and was psychotic at the time having had a relapse.

The case continues.