A MURDERER claimed that alcohol "possessed" him in a letter to his partner after stabbing her and her mother.

Damian Homer, 51, of Haresfield Close, Worcester, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 20 years on Thursday (November 7) after pleading guilty to the murder of Wendy Francis, 61, and attempted murder of Stacey Hill, 38.

Prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu said Mrs Francis had gone to the property in Haresfield Close, after being alerted by her daughter, who had seen Homer arming himself with a knife.

She had arrived at the property at 8.21pm on March 2 and saw Ms Hill being attacked in the kitchen.

After trying to pull Homer off her daughter, Mrs Francis was beaten and stabbed by the man.

Mr Sandhu said: "Stacey Hill then got on top of her mother so that any further blows with the knife would be delivered to her rather than her mother.

Ms Hill was stabbed in the hand, thigh, chest and abdomen and had collapsed lung and a cut to the tissue of her liver.

Mrs Francis suffered wounds which passed through her left lung and liver, went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at 9.18pm, despite the efforts of emergency services to save her.

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Homer had began to drink to excess in 1998 after losing his job and suffering back problems. He claimed to drink around 108 units of alcohol in an average week.

On the day of the murder, he had drank eight cans of cider, part of a bottle of wine, and further drinks.

He wrote a letter to his partner while in custody saying "alcohol possessed me" and that he had very little recollection of the attacks.

Defence KC Tim Hannam said Homer was "devastated and mortified" by his actions and had "destroyed the lives of everyone in his family."

Passing sentence, judge Rupert Mayo said: "This senseless killing took place during a near-fatal attack on your partner, Stacey Hill.

"Both of your victims sustained defensive injuries, it would not be an exaggeration to say that both women were fighting for their lives."