Higher Walton stab deaths: Son found guilty of murdering parents

Lee Tipping showed "no remorse" for murdering his parents who "were devoted to him", police say

A man who stabbed his parents hundreds of times in a "ferocious" attack and tried to flee the country the day after has been found guilty of their murders.

Anthony Tipping, 60, and Tricia Livesey, 57, were found dead at their home in Cann Bridge Street, Higher Walton near Preston, in November, 2021.

Lee Tipping, 36, who admitted killing them but denied their murders, was convicted by a jury at Preston Crown Court.

He is due to be sentenced on 28 July.

Tipping stabbed his father 131 times his mother 153 times, with both hit in the head, neck and body, prosecutors said.

Anthony Tipping also had severe injuries inflicted after his death.

Police said Tipping had made "extensive efforts" to leave the country before his arrest in Manchester.

He went to Liverpool Airport, planning to board a flight, but returned home when he realised he did not have a 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 and instead headed to a nearby hotel in Manchester where police later arrested him.

The bodies of Tricia Livesey and Anthony Tipping were found inside the family home in Higher Walton

He had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia around 17 years ago, hospitalised twice and was detained under the Mental Health Act after the bodies were found in the family home.

But after a review he was deemed fit for interview and charged with both murders, Lancashire Police said.

In police interviews he gave varying reasons for killing his parents.

In one he said his father had bullied him all his life and he stabbed him in self-defence, while in another he said his father had attacked his mother.

'No remorse'

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.

"He showed them no mercy whilst he stabbed them hundreds of times," a spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said.

"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 Ch Insp Jill Johnston 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."

She said the couple had "devoted their lives to their son", adding: "Despite this Lee subjected them both to the most horrific, sustained and violent attack that resulted in their deaths."

Tipping had "shown no remorse" and "maintained self-defence and loss of control as the reason behind the killings, failing to accept any personal responsibility for the consequences of his ferocious attacks," Ms Johnston added.

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