Woolley, a father of three, was addicted to sniffing lighter fuel, sometimes inhaling up to 10 cans a day. He was also an alcoholic and smoked cannabis.

His sister said he talked about seeing space ships and killing the Prime Minister.

Psychiatrist Kenny Herbert, on whose report the judge based his sentence, described him as a paranoid schizophrenic who had been ill for at least 10 years.

He said many people might have thought Woolley's substance taking led him to kill but it more likely that Woolley used lighter fuel and alcohol to block out the hallucinations that tortured him.

Woolley was initially deemed unfit to plead but, with treatment, his condition had improved to the point where he recognised what he had done, and had reacted with 'shock and remorse.'

Although later declared well enough to enter a plea, Mr Herbert said Woolley has continued to lapse into psychotic thinking and would require long-term treatment.

On the day before the murder Woolley had met his mother and brother in Walsall. Malcolm Woolley said his brother had been in a 'funny mood' and struck him in the face, said Mr Peter Grieve-Smith, prosecuting.

Mrs Gillen, a 69-year-old mother of three, lived on the same floor in Holly Court, Acacia Avenue, Walsall, as her son , but in a separate flat. Jason Duffield, described as 'quiet and shy' also lived on the fifth floor.

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That night on October 6, Mr Duffield, 41, who would normally not have had the confidence to leave his flat, had responded to the sound of a woman shouting, the court heard. Woolley, who had a key to his mother's flat, had let himself in and gone to her bedroom, where he stabbed here.

Mr Duffield was the second to be attacked. He was stabbed through the skull and chest before being dragged through the apartment and tipped over the balcony.

A neighbour looked through his spyhole when he heard the disturbance and saw Woolley walk calmly back to his flat.

When arrested, Woolley asked police: "Is she dead? Is he dead? Good." He said he used his 'dad's old screwdriver' to kill them.

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He added: "Things came to a head. The other man came to the wrong place at the wrong time."

Chris Millington, defending, said Woolley suffered from 'psychotic ideas which had no basis in reality.' Judge William Davis, QC, the Birmingham Recorder, told Woolley: "With dreadful brutality you killed your mother and, having killed her, a neighbour who had done nothing more but come to assist was killed with equal brutality. These were dreadful and tragic events."

Mr Duffield leaves a son and daughter, and a stepson, with whom he lived.

Although separated from his wife Sarah, she spoke of the family's grief at their loss: "As a family we want to remember Jason for who he was, a caring and wonderful person who would help anyone in need. Because of this he died so tragically and in such a brutal way. We wish to remember him as we knew him and be left in private to our memories."

Pauline Gillen's family said in a statement after yesterday's hearing: "At this time we as a family would like to remember our mother as the caring and loving person that we all loved dearly.

"She was taken from us prematurely in the most unimaginable way possibly.

"Our thoughts at this time are also with the Duffield family and we offer our condolences."