Merseyside mothers TWICE as likely to be killed by their own sons

Published 29 October 2026, 13:59

• New police campaign targets sons who abuse their mothers as the region's rate of mothers killed by their children is double anywhere else in the UK
• James Dempsey stabbed his mother Karen, 55, in the heart as she broke up a Kirkby pub fight
• Alan Williams was 21 when he killed his mother in her own home

Merseyside has a rate of mothers killed by their sons that is double that seen anywhere else in the UK, a 2024 femicide review found — a statistic that has prompted Merseyside Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner to launch a campaign targeting the abuse of mothers by their sons, according to the force's Hidden Harm campaign page.

The Hidden Harm campaign, developed with domestic abuse charity The First Step and launched on 29 October 2026, forms part of the wider Violence Against Women and Girls programme.

It identifies son-to-mother abuse as encompassing coercive control alongside intimidating behaviour, threats of harm, the exploitation of finances, destruction of property, and physical violence — and warns that love, guilt and shame keep many mothers silent.

Jenny Dennett, Community Domestic Abuse Manager at The First Step, said: "Domestic abuse is not always visible. It is not always a bruise, a threat, or an act of physical violence. It is fear behind a closed door. It is manipulation disguised as love, control disguised as concern, and a mother living in silence because the person causing her harm is her own son."

The campaign cites three Merseyside cases in which sons killed their mothers.

James Dempsey, 32, of Brechin Road, Kirkby, was jailed for 19 years at Liverpool Crown Court after being convicted of the manslaughter of his mother Karen Dempsey, 55.

She suffered a stab wound to the heart while attempting to intervene in a fight involving him at the Brambles pub in Kirkby on 22 August 2022.

Sentencing him, Judge Denis Watson KC said: "If you had thought for a moment about your mum's wish to stop you, you would have realised that if you took the fight to him, she would try to intervene."

Dempsey said "mum, I'm sorry", hugged her and fled.

Karen Dempsey collapsed shortly after and passed away, with hospital staff unable to save her in the little more than an hour she survived after admission.

Her family described Karen Dempsey as a "beautiful, vivacious and compassionate woman," a "community champion" and "a fantastic advocate for social justice who made a real difference to people's lives across Kirkby."

John Owens, 30, of Strathmore Road, Liverpool, was jailed for four and a half years after admitting the manslaughter of his mother Julie Owens, 52, who suffered head injuries during an assault at her Wavertree home in August 2018 and died in hospital more than a week later.

Det Insp Cath Haggerty called it "a particularly harrowing case" and said she hoped Owens would "reflect on the consequences of his actions."

The body of 43-year-old Lorraine Cullen was discovered at her home in Huyton on 11 May 2022, after she had been stabbed multiple times.

Her son Alan Williams, then 21, was detained under the Mental Health Act and has since been confined to Ashworth Hospital, a secure psychiatric facility in Maghull, after pleading guilty to manslaughter at Liverpool Crown Court.

Dennett warned that "coercive control remains widely misunderstood, including by professionals and by those experiencing abuse themselves," and that when warning signs are missed, "opportunities to intervene and prevent further harm can be lost."

Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell said: "Too many mothers are living with fear, intimidation and controlling behaviour behind closed doors" and stressed that "seeking support does not mean giving up on their son."