Stefania Glowka has been sentenced to eight years in prison for the manslaughter of her mother, Tamara Glowka, at their Wiltshire home.
A Wiltshire woman has been sentenced to eight years in prison for killing her mother after what a judge described as an “utterly extraordinary and deeply sad case.”
Stefania Glowka, 64, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was cleared of murdering her mother, Tamara Glowka, 86. The killing happened at their home in Devizes on Christmas Day 2025.
Bristol Crown Court heard Glowka had been the primary carer for her mother for more than two decades. The two women lived together, and the court was told both had experienced worsening mental health.
Judge Julian Lambert, sentencing Glowka, described her as a “dutiful considerate daughter” and told her: “No one could have done more for a parent.” He said depression had “distorted” her care for her mother and that reaching a sentence had been “very difficult.”
The court heard Glowka cooked her mother’s favourite meal on Christmas Eve before they went to sleep in a shared bedroom. During the night, after Tamara Glowka got up to use the toilet, her daughter strangled her with a belt and then attempted to take her own life.
Police were called at 08:10 GMT on 25 December to reports of a serious assault at a flat in Keepers Road. After waking hours later, Glowka called 999 and said she had committed a crime and needed to be held responsible.
In a letter read to the court before sentencing, Glowka said: “I had a shining light in my life and I extinguished it.” She added that she felt she had let her mother down “when she needed me the most.”
Prosecutor Simon Jones argued the killing was a deliberate act that had been carefully planned. Nicholas Corsellis, defending, said Glowka was “acting in the fog of despair” and had been increasingly unable to cope.
The court also heard psychiatric evidence about Glowka’s recurrent depressive disorder. Dr Lucy Bacon, a consultant forensic psychiatrist, had previously said Glowka’s thoughts were strongly affected by depressive illness but that she was capable of forming rational judgment. Under cross-examination, Glowka accepted she understood what she was doing and was in control.
DS Chris Hughes of Wiltshire Police thanked emergency workers who responded on Christmas Day, saying they handled the incident with “professionalism, care and diligence.”
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