TEENAGER WHO MURDERED HIS PARENTS AND WENT ON HOLIDAY
A teenager who led a "Walter Mitty-style" fantasy life bludgeoned his elderly parents to death before jetting off on a lavish holiday with his unsuspecting girlfriend.Brian Blackwell was a promising pupil at the private Liverpool College school when he ended his parents’ lives in a frenzied knife and hammer attack in July 2004.
Using a claw hammer and a knife, Blackwell rained blows down on his 72-year-old father, Brian, and his 61-year-old mother, Jacqueline at the family home in Melling, before leaving them for dead.
Retired accountant Mr Blackwell was stabbed to death, and Mrs Blackwell, a retired antiques dealer, was stabbed and beaten to death on July 25.
He then took his girlfriend, Amal Saba, on a luxury holiday to America and the Caribbean, which he financed with £30,000 of his parents' money, while falsely claiming he was a professional tennis player to impress her.
After returning from the USA, Blackwell stayed in his girlfriend's home in Childwall claiming he would be locked out of his house until his parents returned from their villa in Majorca.
However, on Sunday, September 5, police responded to neighbors' reports of a strong and unpleasant smell from the family home in Sandy Lane, Melling, discovering the decomposing bodies of Mr and Mrs Blackwell—six weeks after the murders.
Mr Blackwell's body was found in the living room, having been beaten with a hammer while seated, while Mrs Blackwell's remains, who had been stabbed, were dragged into the bathroom after witnessing her husband being slain.
Back in 2005, police interviews revealed Blackwell's chilling confession, where he sobbed and admitted: "I couldn't believe someone would have died so easily." He pleaded guilty to two charges of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The judge, Mr.
Justice Royce, described Blackwell's actions as displaying "breath-taking callousness" and indicated he was unlikely to ever be considered safe for release.
