Son admits killing 84-year-old mother at their Chipping Campden home

A SON has admitted killing his 84-year-old mother at their home in Chipping Campden.

Matthew Corry, 46, denied murder but admitted manslaughter when he appeared via video link at Bristol Crown Court on Monday (3rd July).

Beatrice Corry was found with head injuries at her home at the Old Grammar School in

High Street on Friday, 6th January and died a short time later.

Anna Vigars QC, prosecuting, accepted Corry’s manslaughter plea and told the court that the Crown Prosecution Service was not seeking a trial on the murder charge.

Corry, a former master at Eton College, was remanded into custody to be sentenced on 10th July.

He is being held in a secure psychiatric hospital.

Judge Peter Blair KC ordered that Corry be brought to court in person to be sentenced. That hearing will also hear evidence from the psychiatrists treating him.

Corry had been a master at Eton College until 2008. He was reported to have also held a number of teaching positions at other prestigious schools, including the Godolphin and Latymer School, a private school in Hammersmith, West London.

At a previous court hearing, Corry, who attended both Oxford and Cambridge universities, said he had been diagnosed with bipolar disease.

Back in January, tributes were paid to Beatrice by the Chipping Campden community. The retired teacher who volunteered at the Chipping Campden Home Nursing charity shop in the town, was described as “thoughtful and kind”.

Maria Graham-Martin, on behalf of the charity, said: “It is with great sadness that Campden Home Nursing learned of the tragic death of Beatrice Corry, a much-loved volunteer at our charity shop in Lower High Street. Beatrice was an original volunteer and founding member of our shop, which opened in 2019, and was a very valued part of our volunteer team.

“Our staff and volunteers are all devastated by the news. Beatrice was a vivacious character with a kind and positive disposition, and a friend to all. She will be very greatly missed.”

Helen Makaritis, CEO of Campden Home Nursing, added: “Beatrice was an incredible lady, she had so much energy and would regularly have completed a five-mile walk before her shift in the shop. Described as a ‘force of nature’ by the shop team, she was always positive and never afraid to voice her opinion, a very intelligent lady who was knowledgeable about so many things. Never without a scarf or a twinkle in her eye, she was loved by us all.

“We are lucky to have many funny anecdotes and stories in our memory banks and she will be remembered with great affection.”

Prior to moving to Chipping Campden, Beatrice lived in an apartment at Styles in Sunningdale, the former home of Agatha Christie. An avid fan of the ‘queen of crime’, Beatrice was photographed in 2009 in her apartment at Styles for a feature in Berkshire Life magazine.