Crazed Worksop killer who butchered parents with kitchen knives fails in bid to cut sentence

Kamil Dantes, aged 31, was delusional and high on cannabis and amphetamines when he slaughtered the couple - both aged 54 - at their home in Worksop in April 2014.

His father, Leszek Dantes, was badly disabled due to brain injuries, London’s Appeal Court heard.

And his mum, Malgorzata, would have have had no chance to defend herself against her son’s onslaught.

Both mother and father were stabbed repeatedly and with appalling savagery, Lady Justice Hallett told London’s Appeal Court today.

Mrs Dantes sustained over 40 stab wounds - with the tip of a kitchen knife left rooted in her skull.

Dantes, of Hardwick Road Estate, Worksop, later turned himself in to the police, and said the attack was “the biggest mistake of my life”.

He was caged for life at Nottingham Crown Court in May 2015 after admitting manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility.

He was ordered to be detained in a psychiatric unit, and directed to serve a minimum of 19 years before he can even apply for parole.

His case reached the Appeal Court today as his legal team challenged the length of that minimum term.

But Lady Justice Hallett, sitting with Mr Justice Jeremy Baker and Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, rejected claims that Dantes received insufficient credit for his guilty pleas.

She also dismissed arguments that the judge should have taken more account of his anguished history of mental health problems.

Dantes had been assessed and treated by psychiatric staff in previous years - having at one point been convinced that his parents were “imposters or aliens”.

However, Lady Justice Hallett noted that he had taken cannabis and amphetamines shortly before the killings - despite knowing that this could worsen his fragile condition.

And she concluded: “These were the most brutal attacks on two innocent and virtually defenceless human beings.

“It was an impeccable sentencing exercise. No complaint can be made about the length of this minimum term.”