Ex-soldier used knife to carve a cross on his mother

Scott Hobson, 32, attacked 59-year-old Margaret Hobson at their house in Walkley, Sheffield, with a kitchen knife.

He carved a cross on her chest, dismembered parts of her body and left her with about 80 different injuries, a judge heard.

Judge Roger Keen told Hobson: “You killed and butchered your mother in the most dreadful and grotesque way.”

The court heard how Hobson was seen later that day wandering around with blood-stained clothes.

His mother was found dead at the back door of her house by horrified neighbours.

South Yorkshire Police confirmed Hobson, who has been diagnosed as a schizophrenic, was detained under the Mental Health Act by Judge Keen.

The defendant, of Lister Road, leaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility at Sheffield Crown Court.

The court heard the unemployed father-of-one, who served in Kosovo with the Territorial Army, was a heavy cannabis user.

Judge Keen was told this cannabis use was not the cause of the mental illness but might have made it worse.

In a statement issued through police, Mrs Hobson’s husband Michael said: “Margaret was a well-liked woman and will be missed by all of us very much.”

The Crown Prosecution Service’s lawyer in the case, Tim Warburton, said the decision to accept Hobson’s plea of manslaughter was taken after consulting with the Hobson family.