A man who killed two members of his family in a brutal double murder has been given a life sentence.
Peter Fox pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Liverpool Crown Court following the deaths of Bernadette Fox and Sarah Fox last year.
He had strangled and stabbed the mother and daughter, ask aged 57 and 27, at separate addresses in Bootle on April 15, 2015.
The 27-year-old will serve a minimum of 12 years and two months behind bars and will undergo treatment at Ashworth high-security hospital before he is deemed well enough to be transferred to a normal prison.
Speaking after the ruling, Detective Chief Inspector Dave Rooney, who took charge of the investigation, said: “There is no doubt that Peter Fox was mentally ill at the time he took the lives of his mother and sister.
“However, we will never be able to comprehend why he undertook the course of action he did, and it must be remembered that a family is still trying to come to terms with the tragic and untimely loss of their loved ones.
“Our thoughts today are rightly with Bernadette and Sarah’s family, who have shown great strength and dignity throughout the investigation and trial process.
In a victim impact statement prepared on behalf of the two victims, the Fox family said: “It is absolutely unbelievable that we all find ourselves in this horrendous situation.
“Never in a million years could any of us have foreseen such an awful act would happen in our family.
“Our lives have been ripped apart and we have lost two beautiful people at the hands of someone who should have protected them, yet their own flesh and blood did the opposite.”