Crawley Down murders: Daniel Appleton jailed for walking stick attack

A man who bludgeoned his wife and a 76-year-old woman to death with a walking stick has been jailed for life.

Daniel Appleton, 38, had claimed he had a psychotic episode during the attack in Crawley Down, West Sussex.

But Lewes Crown Court heard he had taken a drug similar to LSD, and the judge said the attack in December 2019 was "not a case of insanity".

Appleton was sentenced to a minimum jail term of 26 and a half years. He was convicted of murder last month.

The court heard he chased his schoolteacher wife Amy out of their home and attacked her on their driveway.

Sandra Seagrave, who was passing by, saw what was happening and tried to intervene, but Appleton turned his aggression towards the elderly woman and murdered her with her own walking stick.

He then returned to his 32-year-old wife and killed her with the same stick, the court had been told.

Amy Appleton was a teacher at Copthorne Church of England Junior School in Crawley.

Her mother Linda Remon described in court the "uncontrollable distress and despair" her family have experienced.

She said: "Our lives were turned catastrophically upside down in the most dreadful way possible.

"Not only has this devastated family and friends but the lives of 30 children she was teaching at the time."

Mrs Remon added: "She had an aura of warmth and friendliness. Her sudden death has robbed her of a fulfilling future.

"She wanted to be a mum and to raise a family, and it has robbed us of sharing this dream."

Appleton, who cried throughout the hearing, had accepted that he was responsible for the deaths, but claimed he experienced a psychotic breakdown that was out of his control and brought about by stress.

However, samples of his hair and nail clippings revealed traces of a psychoactive substance similar to LSD were in his system at the time of the murders.

Sentencing Appleton, Mr Justice Nicholas Hilliard QC said: "I sentence you on the basis that you took a new psychoactive substance and under the influence of this committed these murders.

"Anyone who takes new psychoactive substances, which are Class A drugs, is interfering with their own mental processes and responsible for the consequences."

Speaking after the sentencing, Det Chief Insp Chris Friday of the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team, said the case had been "incredibly difficult and emotive".

He added: "We know nothing can bring Amy and Sandy back, but we hope this lengthy sentence does bring some comfort in knowing justice has been done for their loved ones".

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