Aaron Barley: Homeless man pleads guilty to murder of mother and son who saved him from streets

Accused, 24, confesses to fatal knife attack on Tracey Wilkinson, 50, and son Pierce, 13, at Birmingham Crown Court after Stourbridge family had befriended him and come to his aid

Court artist's sketch of Aaron Barley (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

A homeless man who turned on a family who had befriended him has admitted murdering the mother and her 13-year-old son in a knife attack in their home.

Aaron Barley, who was fed, helped with accommodation and even given a job after Tracey Wilkinson found him on the street, pleaded guilty to killing her and her son Pierce on the first day of his trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

Barley, 24, had already admitted attempting to murder Mrs Wilkinson's husband, businessman Peter, who he stabbed six times while shouting "Die you bastard" during the attack at the family's house in Stourbridge on Thursday 30 March this year.

Barley, who appeared in the dock alongside four custody officers wearing a blue T-shirt, spoke quietly when entering his pleas on Tuesday.

Husband Peter Wilkinson, who survived the attack, and daughter Lydia, hold hands as they speak at Lloyd House in Birmingham about their loss (Aaron Chown/PA)

Mrs Wilkinson, 50, was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering stab injuries, while Pierce died after being taken to hospital.

Mr Wilkinson, 47, managed to phone the emergency services after being stabbed six times and spent 11 days in hospital recovering from his wounds.

Explaining that Barley, whose parents are thought to have died when he was young, was believed to have given no account of the attack to police, Mr Wilkinson added: “There's no motive, there is no explanation.

“My personal feeling - and this is purely my personal feeling - is that he'd lost his job, he lost his flat.

“And he decided that because his life was going bad ways, he was going to take it out on the people that had cared and looked after him.”

It emerged after the attack that the Wilkinsons had helped Barley off the streets around a year earlier - after Mrs Wilkinson saw him keeping warm in a cardboard box outside a Tesco store.

Barley, described as a “chaotic” individual who was known to the police, was also given a job at one of Mr Wilkinson's businesses but left on amicable terms after starting to take drugs.

PA