David Michael Taylor, 37, killed John and Beverley Taylor, both 66, at their home on Regent Crescent in Skipton in December 2021 and appeared at Bradford Crown Court for sentencing today.

The court heard that Taylor had been prescribed anti-psychotic medication since he was a teenager and was under the care of mental health professionals, having received treatment in hospital on several occasions, but had a history of self-reducing his dosage and missing appointments.

He lived with his parents, who have three other children, and was said to have had a ‘loving’ relationship with them before the frenzied attack with three kitchen knives in which his father was stabbed nearly 200 times and his mother almost 100.

Oil industry engineer John, who was killed first and surprised from behind, was a regional swimming champion and club rugby player in his youth, while Beverley, who was originally from Trinidad, excelled at netball and athletics as a young woman. A neighbour heard Beverley screaming before she was set upon at around 7am on the morning of December 21.

Taylor called 999 and told the operator he had killed his parents, but was ‘compliant’ when police arrived and waited for them on the doorstep with the knives arranged beside his father’s body. He later pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

A postmortem revealed Beverley had 95 separate injuries, 48 of them stab wounds to her face, neck. head, torso and arms, and which included defensive injuries. John had 189 separate injuries, none of which were immediately fatal.

Taylor’s psychiatric history dated from 2005, when he first began showing ‘strange, manic and paranoid’ behaviour and developed a gambling addiction. His mental illness recurred over the years, and there was a ‘reluctance’ to take his prescribed medication due to his dislike of the side-effects.

In June 2020, he was admitted to hospital suffering from hallucinations and claiming to hear voices in his head, and assaulted staff on this occasion. He told psychiatrists that the voices were telling him to kill others to save his family. For the rest of the year there were other admissions but also missed appointments and periods when he did not co-operate with medical professionals.

In early 2021, he was ‘not in a good way’, but in April was discharged into the care of his GP. In August, he failed to attend a review, but then asked for help when contacted. He was referred to mental health services and diagnosed as schizophrenic and paranoid. By September, there had been another relapse due to him reducing his medication.

On December 13, he was uncontactable, but on the 20th told his psychiatrist that he was hearing voices again. He was prescribed new medication as part of a phased, gradual change and referred to the home treatment team, but could not obtain his prescription from two pharmacies in Skipton the day before his parents’ deaths because they were out of stock. However, a ‘plentiful supply’ of his existing medication was found in his bedroom.

Family and friends described how Beverley was ‘protective’ of her son, but a witness reported hearing him throw crockery at his mother during a telephone conversation, and Beverley also confided in a friend that David had attacked her. Verbal abuse had also been overheard.

A statement read out to the court by his sister Rachel Cheetham on behalf of his twin Sarah, brother Simon and other relatives reiterated that the family did not want their testimony to have a negative effect on their brother’s treatment, and were fully supportive of his ‘mental health journey’.

Mrs Cheetham said: “Our parents were amazing. Every day there is pain to force yourself to get out of bed. People cross the road so they don’t have to say anything to you. We all have broken smiles. There is absolute trauma, disbelief and confusion. If they had been killed by a stranger, we could direct our anger at them. But this is our brother who we love and grew up with. We have all struggled with the conflict of emotion.”

The family added that they were dissatisfied with the treatment Taylor received from mental health services after ‘recognising he was in crisis and asking for help’, and that he ‘could not cope with the demons in his head’. An independent review into his case has been commissioned.

Mrs Cheetham added: “Anything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong. We haven’t got a future with our parents, but we want them to be remembered for how they lived, not for how they died.”

Taylor’s defence team confirmed that his progress while in a secure hospital had been ‘sporadic and inconsistent’ and that he had still reported hearing voices. Experts have agreed he should not be released and that he poses a ‘significant’ risk to the safety of others.

Sentencing Taylor under a hybrid order, which allows transfer between prison and psychiatric hospital, Judge Jonathan Rose imposed a life term of 12 years, with a minimum term of eight. He was returned to hospital and can only be discharged into prison custody with the agreement of a tribunal.

Judge Rose said: “These acts have caused immeasurable pain to your family. You were loved as a son and sibling. It is a demonstration of their generosity of spirit that they are not in court today to seek revenge.

"The relationship with your parents became strained as 2021 progressed. Your mother was clearly petrified during the attack, and I am sure you intended to kill both of them. You had the presence of mind to change the weapon, perhaps when the knife became blunted. On occasion, you have lacked insight into your illness and denied that you were unwell. There has been a reluctance to help yourself. Your illness does not relieve you of all responsibility.

"A hybrid order means the risks can be better managed, whether you are in prison or hospital, over the long term. You are extremely dangerous and you acted with intent.”

Detective Inspector Steve Menzies of North Yorkshire Police said: “This has been a very sad investigation, and unlike with many court cases, there are no winners following today’s result.

“At the time of their deaths, John and Beverley Taylor clearly loved and cared for their son David. David had significant and fluctuating mental health issues, which his family believe started following him taking illicit drugs at a rave in Bradford when he was 19.

“Clearly this has been a very distressing time for the family and friends of John, Beverley and David, and they have been left devastated. Beverley was the focal point of the family, and plans were in place for them all to spend Christmas together. I praise the whole family for the way that they have supported each other, and how they have supported my team during the course of the investigation.

“There will now follow an independent Mental Health Homicide Review, led by NHS England, so it would not be appropriate to make any further comment relating to the circumstances of the investigation.”

Skipton parent killings: Son, 37, who killed his parents in frenzied knife attack in their Yorkshire home is sent to psychiatric hospital