Woman who killed mother 'able to think rationally'

A woman was "capable of making rational judgements" when she strangled her elderly mother to death, a court has heard.

Stefania Glowka, 64, has denied murdering Tamara Glowka, 86, at their home in Devizes in Wiltshire on Christmas Day in 2025, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter based on diminished responsibility.

After feeling she couldn't continue looking after her mother, who was experiencing psychosis, Glowka strangled her with a belt and tried to take her own life.

At her trial at Bristol Crown Court earlier, Glowka said she had "reached the end of my road".

Glowka grew up in Poland and moved to the UK at the age of 29.

She told the court it was "natural and normal to look after your elderly parents", so in 2004 her mother moved into her home where they had a "very happy life together".

"We lived almost like a couple, I was the provider and mum provided everything else," she said.

But Glowka reported low mood to her GP on numerous occasions, and described herself as a "pessimist by nature", who had given up on romantic relationships.

The court heard she retired from her job as a vet before the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020, after which her mother - who never learned English - became a "recluse".

"I was accepting it, because my mum gave me everything," she said, in tears.

In late 2024, Glowka's mother started hearing voices, which made her anxious and paranoid, the court was told.

It wasn't until October 2025 that she was detained under the Mental Health Act, by which point Glowka said she hadn't slept for four days.

"It was like seeing someone possessed, she was not my mother," she said.

Glowka made future plans, but her mother was still not herself when she returned home.

"It was a feeling of total despair, total hopelessness - I didn't want to live," she said.

She told the court after their Christmas Eve meal she lay awake thinking "dark thoughts".

She said thoughts of suicide dated back to 2008, but it was then she realised she "couldn't go on".

After strangling her mother, she wrote a letter to a friend and filled a folder with documents relating to power of attorney and her estate.

"I wanted to put my affairs in order," she said.

Glowka then cut her carotid artery in her neck and stabbed her abdomen, only to wake up hours later.

She then called the police because she had "committed a crime and needed to be held responsible".

Glowka's defence is diminished responsibility, which would reduce the conviction to manslaughter - if her depression substantially impaired her ability to understand her conduct, form rational judgements, or exercise self-control.

Glowka said she "wasn't thinking clearly", but when cross examined by the prosecution, she accepted she was in control and understood what she was doing.

She also accepted it was rational to put her affairs in order and call the police.

"I was capable of making rational judgements," she said.

On Wednesday, Dr Lucy Bacon, a consultant forensic psychiatrist who interviewed Glowka said her thoughts were "strongly coloured by her depressive illness".

But Bacon said Glowka was capable of forming a rational judgement.

She agreed with the other psychiatrist Dr Richard Latham that Glowka's depression also didn't substantially impair her ability to exercise control or understand her own conduct.

The trial continues.

If you have been affected by the content in this article, support and information can be found on the BBC's Action Line.

Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.