Jury to consider verdict in case of Higher Walton man accused of murdering mum and dad in frenzied late night attack

Tipping, 36, of Cann Bridge Street, stabbed his mum Patricia Livesey and dad Anthony Tipping a total of more than 320 times in the early hours of November 20 2021.

He claimed he acted in self defence when he stabbed his father 165 times, beat him with a weapon and burned his face with a lighter following an argument and years of abuse. He denied any memory of attacking his mother, who was stabbed more than 150 times, including 67 times in the chest, 39 in the abdomen, 10 in the neck, and three times around the eyes.

READ: Higher Walton man tells court he 'went into a frenzy' and cannot remember viciously stabbing parents to death

David McLachlan QC, prosecuting, argued that Tipping knew what he was doing when he killed his parents 40 minutes after they returned from a night out – and that his claims of self defence and loss of control did not apply.

He said: “The law of self defence is just common sense. If someone is under attack or believes they are about to be attacked, they are entitled to defend themselves so long as they use no more than reasonable force.

“The prosecution says he wasn’t even under attack. Even taking the case that he was, do you accept for one minute that 165 times is ‘no more than reasonable force’?

“The prosecution does not accept for one second that Anthony armed himself with a knife and confronted his son. The prosecution suggests (Anthony and Patricia) were already ready for bed. They were probably in bed when they were confronted.

“Did (Tipping) lose control for a total of over 300 stab injuries?

“We don’t accept that he lost control. We don’t accept there was a trigger in respect of history of violence because we don’t accept there was one. It was a story made up by him.”

The court previously heard that, on the evening of November 19, Tipping phoned his father while he was at the Mill Tavern pub and told him he had broken down their bedroom door, causing his father to become angry.

At around midnight, 40 minutes after Anthony and Patricia returned home, neighbours were woken by the sound of shouting and screaming, which went on for between 10 and 20 minutes.

After killing his parents, Tipping drove to Liverpool Airport, but returned to Cann Bridge Street when he discovered he had forgotten his Covid-19 pass.

There, he booked a last-minute flight to Rome and set off to Manchester Airport, where he checked into a nearby Premier Inn under a fake name.

Meanwhile, the bodies of Anthony and Patricia were discovered by police, who forced entry to Cann Bridge Street after family members called 999 following multiple failed attempts to contact the couple.

Tipping was arrested outside the Premier Inn at around 7.30pm on November 21, when he told the arresting officer his father was ‘a monster’ who had been ‘bullying him all his life’.

Andrew Ford QC, defending, said Tipping was ‘not as mentally well as many’, and that the killing occurred during a period when the 36-year-old had stopped taking his schizophrenia medication. He had complex needs due to his OCD and anxiety, and was concerned about being sectioned as he had been in the past.

He said: “Lee Tipping was never violent to his parents in seven years. He has no criminal record. There had, however, been incidents between the father and son.

“Steven Wells (neighbour) had heard Patricia through the walls screaming ‘get off him, get off him’. On Christmas Eve (2018/19) Catherine Riding (Patricia’s sister) split up father and son fighting. Martin Riding heard Anthony say ‘I might be 60 but I still sorted him out’. Andrew Sutcliffe (friend) said ‘Anthony told me his son would never get the better of him’. Kane Kirkham saw the two of them fighting in the street in public.

"Does that tell you anything about this relationship between father and son?”

He added: “Don’t forget it’s not just Lee Tipping for whom this incident could have been the final straw. Anthony was set to ask him to leave… it seems he might have reached the end of the road as far as Lee being at home was concerned.

“There is evidence he’d been violent with Lee Tipping before… If Anthony did have the knife first, that does weigh heavily in the balance.”

Mr McLachlan said: “Due to the ferocious nature of the attack, (Tipping) only had one intention and that was to kill them both. He showed them no mercy whatsoever, nonwithstanding all they had done for him.

"First he stabbed his father to death, stabbing him after he was dead, and then moving onto his mother because she was in the way. And after the killings, he tried to make good his escape, but was fortunately thwarted by the police.

“He, by his actions, has torn his immediate family apart through his selfishness. It’s difficult to appreciate that his case isn’t some drama – it’s real. They’re not here because of him, because of what he did.”

Mr Ford told the jury: “We remind you that you are trying a paranoid schizophrenic who had stopped medicating. We ask you to take the utmost care. If you are sure he retained control, you will find him guilty. If you are not truly sure, there are alternative verdicts available.

"On count one, Anthony Tipping, we submit manslaughter by loss of control, if you reject self defence. On count two, Patricia Livesey, manslaughter by loss of control is his only defence.”