Overview
- The court sentenced Michael Bowen to life imprisonment with a 16-year minimum term on Friday, 9 October 2026.
- Bowen attacked his 65-year-old mother, Janet Bowen, at their home in Maple Gardens, Yateley on New Year’s Eve 2025 using a hammer and striking her more than 10 times before carers found her dead.
- He initially pleaded guilty to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility linked to drug use but was convicted of murder by a jury at Salisbury Crown Court on 24 July 2026.
- Medical witnesses gave evidence that Bowen suffered a substance-induced psychotic disorder and heard voices telling him to kill his mother, but prosecutors pointed to the repeated strikes, the deliberate choice of a hammer and Bowen’s actions after the killing as signs he retained rational control.
- Family impact and wider questions follow the case because the victim was care-dependent after a stroke, the attack was carried out by her son and the verdict highlights tensions in how courts weigh drug-related psychosis against evidence of deliberate behaviour.