Woman who bludgeoned next door neighbour to death given hospital order

A woman who bludgeoned her next door neighbour to death has been given a hospital order.

Sherry Moore, 55, battered much loved wife, mother and grandmother Sue Atkinson, 64, to death in her victim’s back garden in The Ryedales, west Hull, on October 21 last year.

Mrs Atkinson, a City of Culture volunteer, was found with a metal pole beside her and a stone bird bath on top of her, with more than 100 injuries to her head, neck and body.

Moore, who has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act six times previously, was found sitting in her home with blood on her hands when police arrived.

Last month at Hull Crown Court Moore, who was initially arrested for murder, admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

Sue Atkinson had more than 100 injuries to her head, neck and chest (Hull Daily Mail / MEN Media)

This afternoon she was sentenced to a Section 37 hospital order with Section 41 restrictions, Hull Live reports .

The hearing heard how Mrs Atkinson had become concerned about Moore’s “increasingly bizarre behaviour” before her brutal death.

Hull's most senior judge, Paul Watson QC, Honorary Recorder of Hull and the East Riding, said Moore was “almost certainly suffering a serious mental disorder at the time of the offence”.

Moore, who thought people were "out to get her", said she "heard noises" and "saw someone in her neighbour's garden".

Mrs Atkinson's body was covered with a coat and bird feeder in her garden (Hull Daily Mail WS)

She said: "I pushed something heavy. It fell on her. I didn't think it would kill her."

The hearing heard how Moore had previously stabbed her then two-year-old son with a kitchen knife, among a host of other attacks.

Passing sentencing in Sheffield Crown Court, Judge Paul Watson said: “Far from an easy decision. Public interest and protection of the public was the best protection by the order I have made."

Last month’s hearing heard disturbing details about Moore’s past and medical history were revealed.

She said she had been admitted to hospital on 12 previous occasions, while prosecutors said she had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act at least six times.

A forensic at the home of Mrs Atkinson, 64, who was battered to death in her garden (Hull Daily Mail / MEN Media)

Moore had one previous criminal conviction, for battery in 2015. She also:

• Stabbed her son in 1993, leading to a hospital admission;
• Hit a friend over the head with a bottle in 2004
• Entered a stranger’s house in 2014 and was found in a bedroom putting a necklace around a child’s neck;
• Tried to run over a police officer in Scarborough in 2016.

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