A 78-year-old woman said 'I love you' as her daughter stood over her after stabbing her 12 times with a kitchen knife.

Paranoid schizophrenic Olivia Moat appeared at Canterbury Crown Court today and was ruled unfit to plead over the attempted murder of Shirley Moat.

She had become estranged from her mother for several years due to her illness, which was untreated for decades.

But last August Shirley answered the door at her Bekesbourne Lane, Canterbury, home to be confronted by her 50-year-old daughter.

Olivia pushed her mum backwards and declared: "You are going to die."

She grabbed a carpet sweeper from the porch and knocked Shirley to the floor, then repeatedly rained blows on her mum using her own walking stick, causing her to slip in and out of consciousness.

As Shirley lay defenceless, Moat took a knife from the kitchen and stabbed her mother at least 12 times to the head, chest, abdomen, thigh, hands and arms, causing life-threatening injuries.

"Shirley told her daughter she loved her. Olivia picked up her mother’s bag and went out of the house, leaving her mother lying on the floor," prosecutor Peter Forbes explained.

"There were stab wounds to her right cheek, which had gone down to the cheekbone, causing a fracture.

"There were stab wounds to the right side of the head, one of which had penetrated through the skull into the brain, causing some bleeding to the surface of the brain.

"Her right eye-socket and her nose had been broken as well as two ribs.

"She was bleeding heavily."

Shirley conjured enough energy to call 999, with an operator battling for several minutes to help her stay conscious.

Police and paramedics were on the scene within minutes, forcing entry into the home, the court heard.

Shirley was airlifted to King’s College Hospital in London for treatment to her 12 wounds.

They included a 7cm laceration to her neck and 10cm deep stab wound to her stomach.

Police located Olivia minutes after the 999 call about a mile from the crime scene. Forensics would later discover blood on her shoe belonged to Shirley.

"She told the police she had been to see her mum," Mr Forbes continued.

"But when she was arrested for attempted murder Olivia said 'she was already dead'.

"I haven't seen her in 38 years. The door was open and she was dead when I got there."

Following her arrest Olivia, of Brymore Road in Canterbury, was deemed unfit for interview.

Meanwhile, forensics were busy gathering evidence at Shirley's home and made some chilling discoveries.

A blood-stained knife alongside another blade, the broken carpet sweeper and two pairs of scissors were recovered.

Further items were also found outside the annexe, where Olivia once lived, including two cigarette butts containing her DNA.

“Evidently she had been outside the back of the property, perhaps looking into the house and watching her mother that evening,” Mr Forbes added.

The court heard when Moat was charged with attempted murder she replied: “No I didn’t. You do not know what went on in the house, she attacked me with the knife.

“I ran for the door, she was there stabbing herself with the knife. I have not murdered anyone.”

The jury saw a police interview where Shirley described how she was laying on the floor dying when Olivia loomed over her with a pair of scissors.

"I said that three times: 'I love you, I love you,' and I don’t know what she did with the scissors but she picked up my bag and left," she said.

Detained inside a mental health unit following the attack on the evening of August 12, two psychiatrists would deem Moat unfit to stand trial.

They told Judge Simon James she was unaware of her actions or their consequences at the time. They also described her prognosis as poor.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr Muzaffar Husain, Moat's primary clinician, advised the court in a 33-page report she is unfit to plead and has been untreated for paranoid schizophrenia for decades.

He explained the longer the chronic condition goes untreated the longer the recovery.

Wearing a blue hooded sweater over an orange jumper with shoulder-length hair let down, Moat, with assistance from two nurses, placidly sat in the dock at the beginning of the hearing until she was later excused.

She spoke only to confirm her name and request to leave the court until the end of the trial. However she protested her innocence before being led from the dock.

"We feel Olivia will always be a threat to us (and) we have no choice but to move from our homes..."

A jury was tasked to decide that, although Moat was unaware of her actions, she inflicted the injuries.

It took the 12 members just 13 minutes to announce they were was satisfied Olivia had caused her mum's injuries.

Judge James made a hospital order which will lock her up under the Mental Health Act indefinitely.

He told her: "There can be no doubt that you pose a significant risk by reason of the commission of further offences."

Sister Kerry Moat, who sat in the public gallery throughout the hearing, told the court of the heartache the attack caused the family "failed by the mental health services.

"My mum was an independent lady leading an independent life, she is no longer independent.

"Her life has been destroyed.

"My mother no longer wants to stay in the house, she feels at risk of Olivia.

"We feel Olivia will always be a threat to us (and) we have no choice but to move from our homes."

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