Life term for man who stabbed disabled neighbour to death
A man who killed his disabled neighbour and injured her 79-year-old mother in a frenzied knife attack has been jailed for a minimum of 10 years.
Oliver Faughey, 63, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to the manslaughter of Maylyn Couperthwaite, 52, at her home in Bury, Greater Manchester, after years of "prolonged hostility" towards his victim.
The victim's mother, Audrey Couperthwaite, who herself was stabbed four times by Faughey, of Woodward Close, previously spoke of how the knife-wielding assailant ran towards them and attacked the pair in their own home.
In July, the Crown accepted a plea to manslaughter on the grounds that the defendant's responsibility was diminished due to his paranoid schizophrenia.
Faughey also pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to Mrs Couperthwaite with intent.
He received a term of life imprisonment when he appeared at Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday, said Greater Manchester Police.
Senior investigating officer Duncan Thorpe said: "Oliver Faughey attacked Maylyn and her mother in a completely unprovoked assault in their own home, which is a place where a person should feel the safest.
"Her family remain devastated at their loss and although nothing will change the events of that night, I hope the result today will bring some closure to Audrey and the rest of Maylyn's family."
When Faughey entered his guilty pleas, Mrs Couperthwaite told reporters that Faughey would regularly shout and stare at them in the street.
She said: "We had a hell of a life with that man, for five-and-a-half years. Nothing was done. I have lost count of how many times I reported it."
Six Town Housing, which managed the estate where the Couperthwaites lived, said it had worked with both parties and Greater Manchester Police to "seek resolution" over the reported incidents but added "we couldn't have foreseen the events that then unfolded which led to the sad loss".
