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A double killer who strangled his mum to death before repeatedly stabbing his sister has been jailed for life.

Peter Fox admitted the manslaughter of Bernadette Fox, 57, and Sarah Fox, 27, at their homes in Liverpool in April last year.

Liverpool Crown Court heard the 27-year-old will serve a minimum of 12 years and two months while being treated at Ashworth secure hospital until he is well enough to be moved to prison.

Judge David Aubrey, QC, said Fox killed his mum before launching a premeditated, “brutal and sustained attack” on his sister with up to two knives.

(Image: Liverpool Echo)

He said: “You are a chronic schizophrenic and there is no doubt your responsibility for the killing of those perhaps closest to you in life was diminished.

“Your mother was unable to control you and was in fear of you. That fear was well-founded.

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“You Peter Fox have caused complete and utter devastation to a family. Your family.”

The court was previously told that Fox – who began smoking cannabis at the age of nine – was allowed to “run riot” by his “very protective” mum, reports the Echo.

From 11 he set fires, shot council workers with a BB gun, burgled homes and was described as being “out of control” at school.

His step brother Stephen Cole said Fox thought he was a “gangster” but was really a “Walter Mitty” type dreamer.

John McDermott, QC, prosecuting, said he bullied his “remarkably tolerant” mum – once breaking her collarbone – even though she gave him money and a place to stay.

(Image: Liverpool Echo)

He said: “There was no good reason for him to have wanted to kill her.”

His mental health was a concern after he climbed a crane at Royal Liverpool Hospital and hurled items at a police car in November 2014.

When released on bail, he confronted a stranger and asked him to set fire to his ex-girlfriend, before showing him a gun and asking for bullets.

He was sentenced to 22 weeks in prison on February 27, 2015, but freed by magistrates because he had already served half of the term on remand.

This was despite a medical assessment in which he talked about being a serial killer.

He then failed to attend a psychiatric appointment and stopped taking his medication.

His mum went to visit her daughter on April 15 and while she was out Fox was let into her sheltered accommodation in Brookhill Road.

When she returned at around 3.35pm, he strangled her to death in her living room and stabbed her repeatedly.

He walked to his sister’s home in Worcester Road, where neighbours saw him kicking at her door at around 4.30pm.

She rang her mum, not knowing she was already dead, before reluctantly letting Fox in.

He stabbed her to death, with neighbours saying they heard shouts of “will someone help me” and “phone the police”.

Fox fled and boarded a train to London at 8pm, where he slept rough for five nights.

(Image: Liverpool Echo)

Police launched a manhunt and he was arrested at Euston station on April 20.

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Since being in Ashworth, he has flung faeces and urine at staff, punched and spat at them, threatened to kill them and their children, and warned: “You know what I’m capable of.”

The niece of Bernadette , Hannah Williams, told the court: “Our lives have been ripped apart. We have lost two beautiful people at the hands of someone who should have protected them.

“Our family is forever broken.”

Judge Aubrey said psychiatrists found he had “chronic paranoid schizophrenia”, which they said drove him to kill during a psychotic episode.

He said: “You told doctors that your mother and sister had sexually and physically abused you. To the contrary, they had shown you kindness and tolerance.

“You believed that prison officers were plotting to kill you - that you had been recruited by MI5 and the RAF to kill people for them.

“You are an extremely dangerous man.”

However, he said his mental illness did not “extinguish your responsibility” as he had been rational enough to carry out the premeditated attack on his sister and catch a train to London.