Ex-Eton College master kicked, stamped on and ‘knee-dropped’ his mum, 84, to death while she was phone to 999
A FORMER Eton College master kicked, stamped on and “knee-dropped” his elderly mum to death while she was on the phone to 999.
Beatrice Corry, 84, called the emergency services begging for help after son Matthew launched into the horror attack at her home in Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire.
The 45-year-old was heard threatening to cut his mum’s throat and verbally abusing her.
Corry has now been given a hospital order after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Bristol Crown Court.
The ex-teacher was suffering from a manic episode at the time and had been plagued by mental health issues.
In a victim impact statement, his brother Nicholas Corry said the family had tried to help him on many occasions.
He added: “It is hard to convey in words the loss I’ve experienced since I’ve lost my mother. My children have lost a grandmother they adored and who dotted on them.
“Whilst dealing with deep personal trauma, I have also had to face the horror of what occurred to my mother.
“I am filled with guilt that I underestimated the risk my brother posed to our mother, who had opened her home to him and provided him a safe environment to pull his life together.
“Matthew’s crime was horrific and resulted in the death of an 84-year-old woman.
“Nonetheless, I recognise that if he not been ill and experiencing a manic episode my mother would still be alive.
“In my view he would not ordinarily bring harm to anyone.
“Our family has been wretched and pulled apart by the horrific circumstances surrounding our mother’s death.
“I hope he gets the medical support he needs to manage his mental health.”
Corry was living with Beatrice at her apartment on the High Street when the horror unfolded on January 6 this year.
He claimed he killed his mum in an “act of passion” after she tried to make him attend a doctor’s appointment.
Police arrived at the home to find Beatrice suffering from “multiple blunt force injuries”.
Judge Peter Blair KC said: “You said you had kicked, stamped and kneed her. She suffered appalling and horrific injuries.
“Those in her chest and abdomen were most in keeping with those involving stamps, kicks and knee drops.
“Her injuries were appalling.”
The court heard Corry he was an “intelligent man and a high achiever” in his working life but had stayed in a secure facility three times due to manic episodes.
He was diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder in May 2022.
In a statement read to the court by his solicitor, Corry said: “I am appalled at the devastation I have reeked on family and friends and most of all my mother.
“I am so sorry for all of that – I want the court to know I am truly remorseful and horrified and deeply saddened towards deep act of violence to my mother.
“I owe it to my family to get better and address the mental health problems which is what I aim to do.”
The killer worked at Eton, where Princes Harry and William went to school, until 2008.
He was teaching biology at private girls’ school Godolphin and Latymer, in West London, until April 2020.
The establishment counts Boris Johnson‘s wife Carrie Johnson, singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Nigella Lawson among its alumni.
Tributes flooded in for Beatrice, who was part of the University of the Third Age and was an award-winning volunteer at the Campden Home Nursing charity shop.
CEO Helen Makaritis said: “Beatrice was an incredible lady, she had so much energy and would regularly have completed a 5 mile walk before her shift in the shop.
“Described as a ‘force of nature’ by the shop team, she was always positive and never afraid to voice her opinion, a very intelligent lady who was knowledgeable about so many things. Never without a scarf or a twinkle in her eye, she was loved by us all.
“We are lucky to have many funny anecdotes and stories in our memory banks and she will be remembered with great affection.
“We send our heartfelt condolences to her family, especially her grandchildren, of whom she talked of often and with immense pride.”