Daniel Bartlam "The Coronation Street Killer"

In April 2011 Daniel Bartlam murdered his mother, Jacqueline Bartlam, at their home in Nottingham. He attacked her repeatedly with a hammer while she lay sleeping and then set her, and their home, alight in order to conceal his crimes. At the time of the murder Daniel was 14 years old.

About Daniel Bartlam

Daniel was raised by his mother in a stable home and was a 'normal' young boy. In 2009 the family moved and he had to change schools to one in a different part of Nottingham. In the year before the murder Daniel became more reclusive, spending more and more time alone, playing video games and watching horror movies in his bedroom.

Simon Matters, the former partner of Jacqueline Bartlam, said:

He'd have plastic boxes full of figures (Star Wars and Dr Who characters) but he'd just urinate in the boxes. He also defecated all over the bedroom and in the boxes and hid towels and stuff that he'd wiped himself with.

Following the murder Daniel Bartlam fled the burning house with his younger brother and his dog, and waited for emergency services to arrive. He did not harm his brother or the dog. When he was questioned by police he told them he thought there'd been an intruder and they might've hurt his mother.

Later he admitted killing his mother after an argument. During a search police found a hammer in Daniel's bedroom, and a document on his computer where he had written a story featuring a character (with his own name) who murdered his mother. In addition to the document, clips from a recent storyline on Coronation Street, where one of the male characters killed a woman with a hammer, were found on the computer. When the media heard about this Daniel Bartlam was given the nickname "The Coronation Street Killer".

During Trial

The jury heard that Daniel was seeing in counsellor in the months before the incident. During the sessions he discussed hearing voices telling him to hurt people and visions he was having of killing people. Some people, who are aware of the case, suggest Daniel must be mentally ill to have carried out such an attack, but when experts examined him he was not found to be mentally ill.

The motive for the murder is unclear. In many cases of children who kill their parents there has been a history of neglect and abuse, but this wasn't the case for Daniel.

Daniel Bartlam pleaded not guilty to murder. He claimed he'd been provoked by an argument with his mother and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The jury unanimously convicted him of murder on 9th February 2012. At sentencing in April 2012 the trial judge, Mr Justice Flaux, told Daniel the killing was "grotesque and senseless" and ordered him to serve a minimum of 16 years.