Bristol - A 13-year-old boy was in secure custody last night after a court heard that he killed his baby brother by stabbing him 17 times and cutting off his left hand.
Bristol Crown Court was told the boy, who suffers from a serious psychiatric illness, had had an "appalling" and "wretched" upbringing leading to the killing on January 19th last year.
His guilty plea to manslaughter was accepted yesterday, and the court adjourned the case for the boy to be sentenced at a later date.
Defence counsel said the boy's mother, believed to be Irish, had been sexually abused by her mentally ill father and while she was in care. The mother's partners later went on to abuse both her and her children.