MURDERER Tim Jackson has been jailed for life after fatally stabbing his stepmother poet at her home near Usk.

Jackson, who admitted attacking 78-year-old Anne Jackson with a knife on November 1 last year, claimed she had "tormented" him.

Mrs Jackson, who wrote under the name of Anne Cluysenaar, was stamped on the head and stabbed five times with a kitchen knife in the conservatory by her stepson while her husband Walt slept upstairs at the family home in Wentwood, near Llantrisant.

The 77-year-old father of 49-year-old Jackson said he hoped he could one day come to terms with the tragedy and forgive his son so they could "rekindle" their relationship.

Cardiff Crown Court heard last week that the killer had afterwards rung 999 and told police he had killed his stepmum because she had tormented him.

Prosecuting, Roger Thomas QC said there had been frequent friction between the two.

Just days before the killing Mr Jackson senior had witnessed arguments between the pair with his son yelling and "choked with anger."

He said Jackson, the youngest of three children from his first marriage, was a "strange child" and a bully when he drank copiously.

He was not able to attend last Friday's hearing because of ill health.

But he said in a statement read out in court, "Anne wasn't just my wife. She was my carer and best friend.

"She looked after me to make sure I took my medication and did jobs around the farm."

On the morning of her death, Mrs Jackson had emailed a friend to say there was an "explosion of ill-will" towards her.

This had made a "permanent change to what I hoped was becoming a stable relationship."

Jackson was told he must serve at least 19 years behind bars before his release could be considered.