Carer who 'couldn't go on' not guilty of mother's murder

A woman has been acquitted of murdering her elderly mother, a charge she faced after calling police on Christmas Day to report the killing. Stefania Glowka, 64, was found not guilty of murder by a jury at Bristol Crown Court, though she had pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

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Trial by jury is a vital part of our functioning democracy. Thank you for helping promote democracy in our land.

The defense argued that Glowka's severe depression had significantly affected her ability to make rational decisions on the night she strangled her mother, Tamara Glowka, 86, with a belt. The prosecution, however, contended that the act was deliberate and planned.

During the trial, psychiatrists provided evidence regarding Glowka's mental state. The court heard that Glowka, who moved to the UK from Poland in the early 1990s, had a recurrent depressive disorder and had been her mother's primary caregiver since 2004. Her mother had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and both women experienced deteriorating mental health.

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I'm the only child of a single mother. All my life it was just the two of us. We don't have any family. We are like two old dinosaurs at the end of the line.

Glowka, who never married or had children, told police in an interview played in court that she and her mother were like "two old dinosaurs at the end of the line" with no other family. She described the decision to strangle her mother as "spur of the moment" and stated she "wasn't thinking clearly." The defense emphasized that while Glowka made rational decisions in the morning, her judgment was "terribly and substantially impaired" in the middle of the night.

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committed a crime and needed to be held responsible

Glowka is scheduled to be sentenced for the manslaughter charge. The judge thanked the jury for their service, highlighting the importance of trial by jury in a functioning democracy.

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acting in the fog of despair