'My mum was decapitated with scissors - now TikTokers make money off our pain'

15 October 2023 , 10:00

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Lawrence Crook has spoken of the family's torment at the death of mum Odessa Carey (Image: Craig Connor/ChronicleLive)

The grieving family of a woman killed by her mentally ill daughter say their pain has worsened by cruel social media users cashing in on the horrific tragedy.

Great-grandmother Odessa Carey, 73, was found dead at her home in Ashington, Newcastle April 2019. Her daughter, also named Odessa Carey, now 40, was charged with her murder but was found not fit to stand trial. A trial of facts jury at took an hour to decide she was responsible for the death as she was sentenced to a hospital order.

Carey Junior, who had repeatedly told doctors she believed her real mum had been replaced by some sort of imposter, then cut off Odessa's head with scissors and cut her body open. Forensic scientist told jurors it was likely that Odessa was struck with a mallet and then beheaded on her bed after she had died.

Odessa Carey was murdered by her daughter four years ago (ChronicleLive)

Odessa Carey Junior was deemed unfit to stand trial following the brutal attack (ChronicleLive)

The tragic pensioner's son has now hit out at content creators who make videos about his mum's death, ChronicleLive reports. Lawrence Crook, who spent the past four years attempting to come to terms with the unimaginable horror of his mum's death, has repeatedly become the subject of ghoulish videos on the social media app TikTok.

And after becoming aware of yet another insensitive clip about his mother's death last week, Lawrence has begged TikTokers around the world to stop and think about the real people involved in events they are using for likes. The 57-year-old said: "People see it as entertainment, to see how many likes they can get... But they need to stop and think about the real families behind it."

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Carey Jr, now 40, had suffered from mental health difficulties since she was a child. Dad-of-five Lawrence said his family spent years trying to get help for his little sister, whose behaviour became more and more disturbing as she grew older. And he told the Chronicle he repeatedly told doctors he feared his sister would kill their mum one day.

Yet earlier this year an inquest into Odessa death heard how Carey was assessed as being ‘low risk’ to others when she was discharged from a mental health ward months before she killed her mum, even though staff knew she had repeatedly attacked her and that Carey was experiencing delusional thoughts.

Her son has hit out at TikTokers who make insensitive videos about the violent death (Craig Connor/ChronicleLive)

In 2020 Carey was detained in a secure hospital after a jury at Newcastle Crown Court ruled she was responsible for the killing before she was finally diagnosed with schizophrenia. During the trial the court heard how Carey had removed her mum's head after killing her with a mallet. She then carried it in a bag to a nearby allotment before storing it in a cupboard under the sink at a house in Guide Post where she had been staying.

These horrifying and unusual events surrounding Odessa's death seem to have sparked a series of social media videos about the case. Lawrence says he has been made aware of posts on TikTok made by users from as far away as Canada. Most of them are insensitive and lurid, he believes. The retired chef says each new video brought back horrible memories.

"It affects all the family, this is about the second one this year I have seen," he said. At the end of the day they haven't got a clue what they are talking about. If they stopped and thought about the family they wouldn't do it. It was hard enough to come to terms with it to start with, it's only four years ago. They don't realise that we are trying to put out lives back together then they come along. It just brings us all back to day one."

As well as urging TikTokers to show some consideration for others before sharing videos, Lawrence is also calling for tougher regulation. He added: "Unfortunately there is no way to stop it. I think there should be some sort of restrictions."

A spokesperson for TikTok said that their policies on Sensitive and Mature themes are clear that they do not allow gory, gruesome, disturbing, or extremely violent content on their platform. They added that more than 40,000 trust and safety professionals work alongside technology to keep TikTok safe and enforce these rules.

They also added that they encourage their community to treat everyone with kindness and respect, including comment prompts asking people to reconsider posting a comment that may be inappropriate or unkind.

Sophie Doughty