Sue Addis killer; anger a motive?

Pietro Addis killed his grandmother – Sue Addis – in anger as she lay naked in the bath according to the prosecution at his trial at Lewes Crown Court.

Pietro Addis stabbed Sue Addis 17 times in January last year, with one of the stab wounds being 20cm deep. Prosecuting QC, Rossano Scamardella, told the jury that the psychiatrist called to give evidence by the prosecution has determined that the nature and circumstances of the death are consistent with Pietro having killed her in anger. The accused denies murder but admits manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The trial is to hear from two psychiatrists - one instructed by the prosecution, the other from the defence and it is likely that the latter will give a different assessments of the accused’s state of mind.

Rossano Scamardella told the jury that police found three knives at the scene. One was underneath Sue Addis's body in the bath, another was found on the bathmat and a third was found inside Pietro Addis’s jacket.

Dr Charlotte Randall, a consultant forensic pathologist who performed a post mortem examination on Sue Addis, told the court; “One of the wounds to the chest, which cut through a rib, would have required a severe degree of force. Death occurred as a result of the stab wounds to the neck and chest.”

Dr Randall told the court that she was unable to determine in what order the 17 stab wounds were inflicted, but added that bruising on the victim’s body and stab wounds to her left arm may indicate she was trying to defend herself while in the bath.