A mother killed by her own son in an unprovoked attack at her home, stabbing her to death, had been fighting for years to get him mental health support.

Truro Crown Court heard how 22-year-old Jacob Poynton-Whiting, of Tregender Lane, Crowlas, stabbed his mother, Sally Poynton, in the abdomen and leg before being fought off by his young brother Elijah and thrown out.

However, while Elijah was on the phone to emergency services Jacob broke through a window to return and slash his mother's neck, in a psychotic episode.

Elijah was also injured in the attack, as he fought his brother off their mother, sustaining a nine-inch gash down his leg that needed 23 stitches.

In a statement, Elijah said he felt "let down" by medical professionals who had failed to help his brother, despite their mother fighting for three years to be heard.

"I'm crushed it took my mother's death to get the right help for Jacob," he said, adding to his brother: "I cannot imagine I will ever forgive you."

Today (Friday) Jacob was given an indeterminate hospital order for manslaughter and unlawful wounding, following the death of 44-year-old Sally Poynton in Crowlas on June 22 last year.

Jacob was arrested at the scene by police officers and taken into custody.

He was charged with murder, to which he pleaded not guilty, but following psychiatric evaluations the prosecution accepted his guilty plea to manslaughter by diminished responsibility and section 20 wounding, when he appeared at Truro Crown Court on December 13, 2021.

He was given an indeterminate hospital order under sections 37 and 41 of the Mental Health Act.

The court heard that Jacob had suffered a "catastrophic breakdown to his mental health," despite his family trying to support him and seek professional help.

Jacob Poynton-Whiting was given an indeterminate hospital sentence Picture: Devon and Cornwall Police

Jacob Poynton-Whiting was given an indeterminate hospital sentence Picture: Devon and Cornwall Police

He was described as being a bright child, who had a close relationship with this brother growing up, but later had been given cannabis by his father, Ms Poynton's former partner, and had developed a drug habit at Birmingham University, where he had gone to study bakery and patisserie with ambitions of becoming a chef.

This, the court was told, was where he began to go downhill, having been attacked and robbed, and he developed an interest in alternative lifestyles, which took him to Germany and Peru to explore their spiritual and narcotic cultures.

Between 2018 and 2020 he was described as "starting to go off the rails," with erratic behaviour. After an earlier attack on his mother he was sectioned to Longreach House but was said to have received little support afterwards.

In a statement he read out to the court, Ms Poynton's partner, who she had found happiness with in recent years, said even after what had happened she would have wanted Jacob to get the help he needed.

"Sally would tell you that this wasn't the real Jacob that had killed her. Not the happy, lively, loving son but the Jacob that had become so sick and psychotic that the most important thing in his whole existence was to kill his own mum.

"She would not want anger, she would not want hatred. She would not want to see him punished, she would want him to get the help she so desperately sought. The help she would only get at the cost of her own life," he said.

Detective Sergeant Nige Green, from the Major Crime Investigation Team, said: “The family and friends of Sally have had to endure the most tragic loss imaginable and in the saddest of circumstances. I would like to thank them for their dignified assistance in the investigation and my thoughts, and those of the entire investigation team, are with them at this time.

“I believe that this is the best outcome in the circumstances to enable Jacob to receive the help he needs.”