A TEENAGER who was obsessed with Coronation Street killer John Stape murdered
his own mother in a horrific copycat hammer attack.
Daniel Bartlam, then 14, butchered mum Jacqueline Bartlam, 47, with a claw
hammer as she slept — after watching the soap villain kill one of his
victims the same way.
Bartlam, from Redhill, Notts, then doused her body in petrol and set it alight
— before telling neighbours she had been killed by a burglar on Easter
Monday last year, April 25.
At Nottingham Crown Court today, Bartlam, now 15, was jailed for a minimum of
16 years.
The court heard that the twisted teen had spent weeks plotting his mother’s
death — even going as far as to pen a play about a boy called Daniel who
killed his mother and got away with murder.
On the night of the murder Daniel crept into his mother’s bedroom, where she
was sleeping with his brother Dominic, six.
He took two hammers, one of them a claw hammer, into his mother’s room. He
killed her and then poured petrol on the body and set it alight.
He removed his brother from the house, and began to tell neighbours what he
would later tell police in interview — that an intruder had broken into the
house and killed his mother and escaped out of a window.
But he was found guilty of murder after a trial earlier this year.
Speaking after the verdict, Detective Chief Inspector Kate Meynell, from
Nottinghamshire Police said: “The level of violence, the degree of planning
and the extent of his lies is not only shocking, but it’s also chilling that
a boy could do this.
“I’ve never dealt with something like this and I’m not aware of any other case
in this country. He thought he could commit the perfect murder and get away
with it.”
The court heard how officers who searched the boy’s room found violent
drawings and writings, along with a claw hammer and a container of cleaning
fluid.
They also discovered that websites he had looked up included “Man kills wife
and makes it”; “How to get away with murder”, and “People who get away with
murder in shows”.
Forensic examinations of his computer also found footage of violent scenes
from Trial and Retribution, EastEnders, Hollyoaks, and Coronation Street —
the latter including the Stape murder scene.
The court heard how Bartlam had also written the sick story in which he played
the main character, someone who got away with rape and murder.
He described the character murdering a woman with a hammer and setting the
house on fire.
He thought he had deleted the story completely before committing his crime —
but experts recovered the file from his computer’s auto save.
Bartlam also posted various videos on YouTube, including numerous scenes of
violence from EastEnders.
They included “Phil vs Den 2003”, in which Phil Mitchell attacks Leslie
Grantham’s character Den Watts in a bar, “EastEnders Phil hits jack 2008”,
in which Phil punches Jack Branning in the face, and “Eastenders Phil Hits
Ben”, in which Phil attacks his young son.
Using his account on the video sharing site, he also “liked” various other
clips.
They included three trailers for 18-rated horror movie Saw 3D and several
other soap videos.
He also uploaded a video of himself, called “My new Imac”, in which he says:
“Hello YouTube, this is Danielab1702 here, and it’s finally happened – I now
have an iMac, and I can now make bigger and better videos.”
In the 23-second video’s caption, he writes: “After 2 whole years of waiting i
have finaly got what i have allways wanted . an imac (sic).”
In a statement, Jacqueline’s parents said: “We find it so hard to explain what
we are going through.
“There are no winners here because not only have we lost Jacqui, but we have
lost Daniel too because of what he’s done.
“We know it was the right result at court but trying to understand how a boy
you have loved for 14 years can do something like this is so difficult.
“To find out that Daniel planned to kill his own mother and then hear all the
details, it is all so hard to believe. The most difficult part for us and
something that only Daniel can answer is ’why?’”
An ITV spokesman said: “ITV takes careful steps to ensure that pre-watershed
drama is appropriate for a family audience, and the Stape murder scenes in
Coronation Street were fully compliant.”