
EXCLUSIVE Son, 39, charged with murdering his 'lovely' retired teacher mother, 72, - as distraught neighbours reveal she had just become a grandmother
A son appeared in court today accused of murdering his 72-year-old mother.
Daniel Cook, 39, was charged after retired teacher Ellen Cook was allegedly stabbed to death in the street outside her home.
Police were called to Biddle Road in Littlethorpe, Leicestershire on Sunday evening where Mrs Cook was found injured. She was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Mrs Cook has lived in the same semi-detached home on the quiet village street with her husband Russ, 76, since the 1980s.
The couple had three children, two daughters and Daniel and had recently become grandparents.
One neighbour said: 'I heard a woman shouting loudly. I thought it was just someone who'd had a few drinks and was getting lively.
'Next thing I knew the whole road was full of emergency vehicles.'
Over a dozen emergency vehicles attended the scene in the village near Leicester.
One neighbour said: 'I did not hear anything until all the police were here, then I heard a man screaming very loudly. It was a terrible sound.'
Neighbours said that Mrs Cook had recently become a grandmother and was helping to look after her granddaughter.
'I would see her taking the little girl down to the swings. She was looking after the girl during the day while her daughter was at work,' said one.
A family member, who did not want to be named, said: 'Ellen was a lovely woman. She was enjoying her retirement. They had three children – two beautiful girls and one boy.'
On Tuesday afternoon police tape was removed from around the family home where three cars sat on the driveway.
Well-wishers left flowers of condolence.
One woman, leaving a bunch of flowers, said: 'I did not know the family but this is just so tragic.'
Daniel Cook, of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, appeared at Leicester Magistrates Court on Tuesday afternoon.
Wearing a grey sweatshirt, he spoke only to confirm his name, address and age during the two-minute hearing.
No pleas were entered. He was remanded in custody to appear at Leicester Crown Court on Thursday.
Leicestershire police said formal identification of the deceased is due to take place later this week.
It said officers were supporting the victim's family.
Appealing for witnesses on Monday, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Sinski, from East Midlands Special Operations Unit Murder Investigation Team, said it was an 'isolated incident.
He said: 'I appreciate that the nature of the incident may cause some concern among residents in the area. However, I would like to reassure them that this is an isolated incident, and we are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.
'If there is anyone who hasn't yet spoken to police and may have information connected to this incident, I would urge you to please get in contact with us, as what you saw or heard may be of significance to our investigation.
'We would also like to speak to anyone who may have captured video footage of the incident. We have set up a portal for people to upload any relevant footage.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Ballymena riots: Families flee 'locals' venting their feelings
Here we go again. It was not long after 8pm when a police announcement over a tannoy mounted on their armoured vehicles reverberated around for all to hear. "Force is about to be used against violent individuals," blasted from the speakers as locals, some masked, stood waiting for action. "You better be filming this," one man said as we captured the scenes for Sky News amid a growing sense from locals that the police were being heavy handed in their tactics. And then officers, holding their shields, surged forward as people edged back. The move seemed to further anger the residents who had gathered, almost goading them as tensions ran high. The pace of clashes was slower on this, the third night of conflict. But it was nevertheless just as ugly and messy. Eyewitness: It is hard to see where the violence will end Soon came the baton rounds, the firebombs, the water cannon. Those pelting the police seemed unfazed as they were battered with plastic bullets in return. The watching crowd cheered the rioters on. Police chiefs earlier defended their operation. A senior officer insisted he did have "a grip" on the unravelling situation when questioned by Sky News. The increased presence of officers was felt on the ground and was clear to see. The soundtrack of sirens swirled around this town once again as police lurched from incident to incident as pockets of violence flared up. Officers are on their way from Scotland, England and Wales to help bolster resources. And they won't be short of work. A leisure centre 25 minutes away in Larne came under attack on Wednesday evening after it emerged some of the foreign families fleeing the Ballymena chaos were being temporarily held there. A short drive around Ballymena's one way road system takes you on a journey through housing estates where people have flooded the streets with union jack flags and stuck yellow A4 sheets to their windows with the words, "LOCALS LIVE HERE". These colourful displays are being seen as a public noticeboard of the nationality of the occupants inside each home. A deterrent to make the angry mob to look elsewhere. And those failing to advertise whether they are a 'native' or not seem to be paying a price. I witnessed an upper floor flat with a window smashed, the guttering on fire and the ground outside ablaze. An older neighbour fled her home downstairs in her dressing gown. Earlier in the day two Romanian women were frantically examining their phones down an alleyway as their kids played on the trampoline in the garden. They were terrified and were bundling their belongings in the car and leaving for good. A sizeable chunk of people born in Ballymena are angry. They do not like the talk from police and politicians that taking to the streets following an alleged sex attack on a teenage girl equates to them being "racist thugs". They see this as an act of venting their feelings. And they are hellbent on continuing this campaign of carnage across Northern Ireland to ensure they prove their point.


BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
The Documentary Podcast The tyre scandal
Every year the UK produces around 50 million tyres for disposal. They are supposed to be sent for recycling. Instead, big money is being made by diverting tyres to illegal and dangerous 'pyrolysis' plants where they are melted down to extract oil and steel. Together with a team of journalists from Source Material, a not-for-profit group specialising in climate and corruption, we follow the tyres from the UK to India using tracking devices. The team discovers just how large scale this largely illicit business has become. Earlier this year, a makeshift pyrolysis plant exploded near Mumbai, killing four people. It had been processing tyres from abroad. Reporter Paul Kenyon confronts a tyre trader in the north of England who admits to shipping his waste tyres to India for pyrolysis.


Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Firm linked to Baroness Bra 'must pay back £122m for faulty PPE': Government suing over Covid contract 'initiated' by Tory peer
A firm linked to Michelle Mone must repay £122million for allegedly breaching a Covid PPE contract, a court heard yesterday. The bra tycoon had recommended PPE Medpro, which went on to provide 25 million 'faulty' surgical gowns. The consortium, led by the Tory peer's husband Doug Barrowman, was awarded contracts by the former Conservative administration during the pandemic. PPE Medpro is now being sued by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), with Government lawyers claiming the gowns couldn't be used because they were not sterile. Baroness Mone and the firm both deny any wrongdoing. The Government is seeking to recover the costs of the contract, plus an additional £8,648,691 for transporting and storing the items. PPE Medpro said it 'categorically denies' breaching the contract, with its lawyers claiming the company has been 'singled out for unfair treatment'. Opening the trial, Paul Stanley KC, for the DHSC, said: 'This case is simply about whether 25 million surgical gowns provided by PPE Medpro were faulty. It is, in short, a technical case about detailed legal and industry standards that apply to sterile gowns.' Mr Stanley said in written submissions the 'initial contact with Medpro came through Baroness Mone', with contract discussions then going through one of the firm's directors, Anthony Page. Baroness Mone remained 'active throughout' negotiations, he said, with the peer stating Mr Barrowman had 'years of experience in manufacturing, procurement and management of supply chains'. But he said Baroness Mone's communications were not part of this case, which was 'simply about compliance'. He added: 'The department does not allege anything improper happened, and we are not concerned with any profits made by anybody.' In court documents from May this year, the DHSC said the gowns were delivered to the UK in 72 lots between August and October 2020, with almost £122million paid to PPE Medpro between July and August that year. The department rejected the gowns in December 2020 and told the firm it would have to repay the money, but this has not happened and the gowns remain in storage. Mr Stanley said 99.9999 per cent of the gowns should have been sterile under the terms of the contract. The DHSC claims the deal also specified PPE Medpro had to sterilise them using a 'validated process', attested by CE marking, which indicates a product has met certain medical standards. He said 'none of those things happened', and that of 140 gowns tested for sterility, 103 failed. He added that the DHSC 'was entitled to reject the gowns, or is entitled to damages, which amount to the full price and storage costs'. Charles Samek KC, for PPE Medpro, said the 'only plausible reason' for the gowns becoming contaminated was due to 'the transport and storage conditions or events to which the gowns were subject' after delivery. He said testing was done several months after the gowns were rejected, and that the samples were not 'representative of the whole population'. Mr Samek described the DHSC's claim as 'contrived and opportunistic', with PPE Medpro 'made the fall guy for a catalogue of failures... and uncontrolled buying spree with taxpayers' money'. Neither Baroness Mone nor Mr Barrowman is due to give evidence during the five-week trial. A PPE Medpro spokesman said it 'categorically denies breaching its obligations' and will 'robustly defend' the claim.