The Coronation Street Killer - Daniel Bartlam

Teenager Murderer Killed His Mother With A Hammer 

Daniel Bartlam was just 14-years-old when he killed his mother Jacqueline Bartlam after watching Coronation Street on the television 

Easter Monday in 2011 was a supposed to be a day of peace and holiday, but not in Redhill, Nottingham. Instead of enjoying the Easter holidays, 14-year-old Daniel Bartlam took a hammer and beat his mother to death, before surrounding her body with paper and setting the house on fire.

The schoolboy who was absolutely obsessed with The Coronation Street murderer, John Stape and had loved horror movies since he was 8 years old was sentenced to life in prison to serve no less than sixteen years before being eligible to apply for parole after he killed his mother then set the house on fire to burn the evidence.

Daniel, who was 14 at the time originally told police that he thought his mother had been murdered by a burglar at the family home but then changed his story admitting that he had killed her when he lost his control during a massive argument.

At trial, Daniel Bartlam maintained that he was not guilty of murder as he had been 'provoked' during the argument, but a jury at Nottingham Crown Court unanimously found him guilty in February 2012. 

The jury had heard how the police had examined Daniel's computer and discovered a story that he had written, which had been deleted, The story was about a boy called Daniel who killed his mother in a very similar way to the murder that was being investigated. The story had apparently been inspired by a murder plot on the popular TV soap opera 'Coronation Street' in which a character killed a woman with a hammer.

The prosecution told the jury how Daniel had beaten his mother no less than seven times with a claw hammer then surrounded her with newspaper, poured petrol around her bedroom, surrounded a gas fire with paper and set the house alight. Daniel's mother was only identified by her dental records.

The Detective who was in charge of the murder enquiry, Detective Chief Inspector Kate Meynall said that she had never dealt with such a horrific case. She told the court "The level of violence, degree of planning and extent of his lies is not only shocking, but it also chilling that a boy of 14 could do this".

The DCI continued "This murder has devastated everyone involved. There is only one person who knows why it happened, and Daniel had lied consistently throughout, making attempts to besmirch Jacqueline's character. everyone who knew her said that she lived for her children and was a warm, loving mother".

In her evidence, DCI Meynall told the court that Daniel Bartlam had been arrested when other witnesses began to tell a completely different story, She said that the police know Daniel had spent a great deal of time meticulously planning to kill his mother, it was not a spur of the moment thing. 

It really is quite disturbing to realise that a young boy, still very much a child with a good education planned to kill his own mother because of the storyline a television programme that is shown before the watershed time of 9pm when kids are still up and watching.

The storyline in the popular ITV soap 'Coronation Street' featured a character with serious mental health issues, John Stape who killed a woman with a hammer. This really makes me question whether this kind of thing should be shown on TV, particularly at an hour when many children are up and watching programmes with their parents and family. 

In sentencing Daniel Bartlam to life in prison with a tariff of at least 16 years to serve before any application for parole the judge described the killing as "Grotesque and senseless". He said that in his opinion "Bartlam wanted to get away with the perfect murder".

After the sentence had been passed a statement was read out on behalf of the family. Daniel's grandparents said that Daniel's attempts to depict his mother as a bad parent could not have been further from the truth. Jacqueline's mother said, "she was a wonderful, loving and caring woman [who] would always be the first there if anyone was in trouble and needed help". 

The family statement said that they were all finding it so hard to come to terms with what Daniel had done. They said "There are no winners here because not only have we lost Jacqui, we have lost Daniel too, because of what he has done. We know it was the right result at court but trying to understand how a boy that you have loved for 14 years can do something like this is so difficult".

"The most difficult part for us and something only Daniel can ever answer is, Why"? 

In 2019 a letter was received from The Ministry of Justice by Jacqueline's partner, Simon Matters, informing him that Daniel Bartlam has recently been moved from a young offenders institute to an adult prison and that as a result, his sentence would be reviewed. 

I am given to understand that the Ministry of Justice indicated that at the time of their letter, daniel could be released in 2021 instead of 2028 or beyond as Mr Matters had expected. 

According to a report published by The Daily Star in April 2019, Simon Matters said that he was "horrified" by the decision and begged the parole board "not to believe Daniel's lies".

The letter from the parole board stated that "The review will look at whether his tariff can be reduced as the belief is that a youngster has the ability to change more rapidly than adult offenders".

According to Simon Matters he had been away from home working for two weeks and was returning home when he heard on the radio that there had been a big fire in Nottingham, he said "I immediately thought 'Daniel' and I was right".

It is fair to say that Daniel came from a broken home, in as much as his mother and father had split up and his mother had formed a relationship with Simon Matters but, there is no history of any violence or abuse toward him during his childhood so far as I can see, so I too cannot quite understand what on earth would make a 14-year-old boy so angry and so violent, so much so that he would literally plan his own mother's murder and carry it out.

 

It is quite rare for media and bloggers like me to be able to openly publish stories about young criminals like Daniel Bartlam but in this case, Mr Justice Julian Flaux decided to lift the reporting restrictions. I will just take a moment to explain that in cases of 'child defendants, victims and witnesses' there are very strict rules that govern media reporting, including bloggers but these can be lifted by the courts in certain circumstances. I am not sure whether that applies in other countries but, should I decide to write a blog on a similar case outside of UK jurisdiction I will ensure I find out first. 

Incidentally, if anyone knows whether Daniel Bartlam did get parole or whether he is still behind bars I would be very interested to know.

I will be bringing you more blogs in the coming days and weeks, please remember if you have a particular case that you would like me to review and blog on then do get in touch. I will see you again very soon.

Please do get in touch by email: Lolly-truecrime@protonmail.com 

                             Alternatively: lolly.adams@lollytruecrimeworld.co,uk

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LollyTrueCrime