A SON who killed his cancer-stricken mother in a “brutal” hammer attack at her Birmingham home has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.

David Patterson, of Glenville Drive, Erdington, was cleared of murdering his 72-year-old mother, Sheila Patterson.

But the 54-year-old was convicted of her manslaughter, on the grounds of diminished responsibility, by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court.

As Patterson was being taken away by security officers to begin his sentence, a niece of the defendant shouted abuse at him before being led from the court.

Judge William Davis QC said he had read statements from the victim’s other sons setting out “the enormous grief and loss that they felt at the loss of their mother”.

He said he accepted what happened did not involve any long-term planning, as well as the “deep and lasting remorse and shame” felt by Patterson.

The judge continued: “But this was a brutal attack. It was an attack that was not just the work of a moment or two. You struck that lady, who you loved, time and time again.”

The judge said that, rather than being put out of her misery, Sheila Patterson had been left dying while her son called the police.