Cheadle woman jailed for life over mother's stab murder

Charlene Sargeant initially told officers her mother's injuries were self-inflicted before admitting: "She drove me to it. I killed her"

A woman who "brutally" stabbed her mother to death after a row over debts has been jailed for life.

A jury convicted Charlene Sargeant, 25, of the murder of Rocky Sargeant, 53, who died at the property they shared in Cheadle, Staffordshire, on 16 March.

The defendant initially claimed her mother's 18 wounds were self-inflicted.

She will serve a minimum of 13 years and 97 days in prison, a judge ruled at Stafford Crown Court on Tuesday.

The court heard the pair "rowed over debt" at the address in Sun Street on the morning of the death.

Sentencing, Judge Michael Chambers told Sargeant: "You repeatedly stabbed her in a sustained and brutal attack.

"There are clearly tragic features of this case and the public are rightly appalled by the crime of matricide."

The body of Rocky Sargeant was found in the house she shared with her daughter

Sergeant had told emergency services that her mother had "killed herself", that she had "just found [her] dead".

When police arrived they found a woman on the floor with "a large knife in her right hand and a cut to her throat".

Only when Sargeant was arrested on suspicion of murder did she tell officers: "She drove me to it. I killed her".

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She told police she did not intend to kill her mother but that she "lost control following eight years of abuse".

Mr Charles Miskin QC, defending, said the defendant and victim had lived in "poverty and distress".

A jury had found Sargeant unanimously guilty following a 13-day trial, which ended on 5 October.

Det Insp Victoria Downing from Staffordshire Police said it had been a "distressing case for the family of Rocky, as well as the wider community in Cheadle".