Misogynistic teen jailed for life after murdering mother in hammer attack and recording it on dictaphone
Tristan Roberts, 18, has been jailed for murdering his mother Angela Shellis, 45, at a nature reserve in Prestatyn, North Wales
A teenager has been jailed for life after killing his mother with a hammer and boasting about the attack online.
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Tristan Roberts, 18, has been jailed for murdering his mother Angela Shellis, 45, at a nature reserve in Prestatyn, North Wales.
Before bludgeoning her to death, the teenager sickeningly talked about killing his "terrified" mother in online posts and recordings.
He was sentenced to a minimum term of 22 years and six months at Mold Crown Court on Wednesday.
The court heard how Roberts purchased knives, axes and hammers after turning 18 and just before he carried out the killing in October last year.
In the weeks before the chilling murder, he spent hours on chat platform Discord and regularly posted disturbing content.
He openly talked about killing his mother, such as posting messages about bagging his mother’s body up and pushing her down the stairs or choking her.
AI platform DeepSeek even suggested Roberts use a hammer rather than a knife to kill her, the court was told.
Roberts had a hatred for women and his mum in particular, with his brutal attack on her lasting from 11pm until 3.30am.
Having planned the murder for three weeks, Roberts went on to record a voice note on the day of the attack saying: “This is Tristan Roberts. Tonight I’m going to be Alex and I’m going to murder my mother with a sledgehammer.”
In one of his online posts he wrote: “TBH with you I think I nearly traumatised myself today by putting my shoes on at like midnight when she was sleeping and having the hammer in my hand.”
The teenager, who pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing, attacked her in their home in Coniston Drive, Prestatyn, before killing her at a nearby nature reserve in the early hours of the morning of October 24.
In messages posted on online platform Discord posted later that day he said: “I’ve just had the craziest day.”
He said that he had “beat the s*** out of her ” and described how he had “smashed her skull in so hard with a sledge hammer”.
The recording of the attack was not played in court as prosecutor Andrew Thomas KC said it was too distressing.
The court heard Roberts began the recording by saying: “This is the moment we’re doing it, we’re going to hit her with a sledgehammer.”
Roberts hit her with a hammer and strangled her in the initial part of the attack, the court heard.
The recording from inside the house captured a conversation lasting more than two hours during which Ms Shellis, a qualified teacher, asked her son to let her go and call 999.
The court heard after making her put on a balaclava he told her they would go into town to get medical help.
Footage showed them leaving the house at 3.19am, when they walked to Coed y Morfa nature reserve, where he was recorded asking her to sit on a bench and putting on an American accent.
Mr Thomas told the court Ms Shellis was heard screaming in the recording, at the time when its likely Roberts took a lump hammer from his rucksack.
About 40 seconds later, the first of at least four heavy blows to her head could be heard.
The court heard after killing his mother, Roberts recorded himself saying: “Oh God that was terrifying… That felt so crazy.”
Her body was discovered in undergrowth by walkers later that morning.
Ms Shellis’ older son Ethan Roberts, who left the court in tears at one point during the hearing, said in a statement: “All my mum ever did was love Tristan.”
Addressing Roberts as she read an impact statement to the court, her sister Sarah Gunther said: “It is incredibly hard to express our feeling towards you now.
“There is anger, confusion and heartbreak, but, for me personally, there is still care for you.”
The court heard Ms Shellis had tried to get support for her son, who was diagnosed with autism and ADHD.
On October 17, she messaged a social worker and friends telling them her son had bought a knife and hammer and expressing concern for his mental health.
David Elias KC, defending, said the attack took place just 10 days after Roberts’s 18th birthday.
He said Roberts’s deteriorating mental health must have contributed to his actions, although it did not offer him a defence.