Sheffield man to be sentenced for killing grandmother and aunt

A Sheffield man who strangled his grandmother and drowned his aunt is to be sentenced today.
Julie and Rose HillJulie and Rose Hill
Julie and Rose Hill

Christopher Whelan, aged 21, of Dransfield Road, Crosspool, armed himself with an axe and a penknife during the killing of his 75-year-old grandmother, Rose Hill and aunt Julie Hill, 51, after allegedly struggling against an 'irresistible impulse' to kill others.

Whelan claimed to have heard Satan directing him as he killed the victims at his aunt's home in Station Road, Shirebrook, Derbyshire, on February 25 this year.

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He admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Nottingham Crown Court heard his mental health had deteriorated because of regular cannabis use.

Whelan attacked and then drowned his aunt, Julie, in her bath and strangled his grandmother, Rose, who was from St Francis Close, Crosspool.

He told a psychiatrist he had travelled to his aunt's house intending to rob her for money.

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Judge, Mrs Justice Carr, said Whelans' victims endured an 'absolutely terrifying experience before they were actually killed'.

Whelan's cousin, Liam Parker, 22, of Charnock Crescent, Charnock, Sheffield, killed himself after discovering the bodies of his mum and grandmother.

He was struck by a train at Shirebrook station in April.