A mother strangled her seven-year-old son to death with the belt of a handbag before calling 999 and saying she ‘felt like a robot’ and was unable to stop herself.
Papaipit Linse, 43, was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia when she killed ‘lovely and brilliant’ Louis Linse as he lay in bed.
In the harrowing call to emergency services, she also claimed she could not face going into Louis’s bedroom to check if he was still breathing.
Linse, who developed mental health problems after suffering an abusive marriage to Louis’s father, was today sentenced to an indefinite secure hospital order after admitting manslaughter.
The court heard she had become increasingly paranoid in the days before the attack on January 10 and her babysitter had tried to alert social services the day prior that the child was at risk.
Emergency services found Louis ‘still warm’ in his bedroom at the family home in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, but he was pronounced dead in hospital.
In the 999 call, Linse told the operator: ‘I felt totally mental. Like a robot. I could not control my mind, I was completely twisted.
‘All kinds of things came into my mind. I felt like a robot and I did it.’
Louis’s father, businessman Edward Linse, 51, is detained in a secure psychiatric hospital after attacking his wife and own parents. He listened remotely as the call was played to court.
Prosecutor Caroline Rees KC said: ‘Police found Louise covered up by a duvet. He wasn’t breathing, there was no sign of a heartbeat, his body was still warm.
‘He noticed a ligature around the child’s neck and it left an indentation.’
It was later discovered the ligature was a thin orange leather strap from a handbag belonging to Linse.
Asked how long Louis had been lying on the bed Linse replied: ‘Two hours.’
Thailand-born Linse told police she didn’t know why she had killed her son and said she was ‘twisted’.
Ms Rees said: ‘She said she felt weird and said her house was haunted, as though there was a big vacuum cleaner sucking her feelings out.
‘She said she had seen ghost faces next to her – she felt unsafe at home and switched off all the devices.
‘She had a strong feeling that it would be the last time she would be with Louis’.
Linse said she was seeing ‘ghost faces’ at the time of her son’s death and had no memory of strangling Louis.
Ms Rees said: ‘She felt that someone was telling her things and she was being manipulated.
‘She said she would never have strangled Louis, she thought her body had strangled him but she did not do it herself and that the robot must have done it.’
Linse denied murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, which was accepted by the prosecution.
Babysitter Sara Little told police she noticed a severe decline in Linse’s mental health in the days leading up to Louis’s killing.
Ms Rees said: ‘She was saying there was a new world order and showed Mrs Little an article about elites taking the blood of children to keep themselves youthful.
‘She was paranoid that everyone was out to get her. Mrs Little thought she was paranoid and delusional.’
The babysitter had become so concerned that on January 9 – the day before the incident – she contacted the safeguarding department at the local authority, fearing the children might be at risk.
The authority said they were aware of the family and would keep a close eye on them.
Three psychiatists who examined Linse were all in agreement that she was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.
Consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Owen John Davies told the court: ‘There is overwhelming evidence that she suffers from a psychotic illness and meets criteria for paranoid schizophrenia.’
John Hipkin, KC, defending said: ‘This is in any view an absolutely tragic case. The defendant will have to live with the consequences for the rest of her life.’
Judge Paul Thomas KC sentenced Linse to an indefinite Section 37 hospital order. She can only be released if a Mental Health Review Tribunal rules she is safe which the court heard ‘may be never.’
The Judge told Linse: ‘The medical evidence from three psychiatrists is consistent and clear.
‘Your son was not killed by you because you are a wicked person – you are not. He died because at the time you were suffering from a psychotic illness, namely paranoid schizophrenia.
‘Had you not been mentally ill at the time it would not have happened. You would have continued to be a loving mother to him.’
The Judge added: ‘The loss of Louis is unspeakably tragic and unbearable for many people. I hope they understand the Order I have made.’
Dyfed-Powys Police described Louis’s death at the hands of his mother as a ‘heartbreaking incident that has deeply impacted officers and the local community’.
Detective Chief Inspector Gary Williams, who led the investigation, reflected on the tragic events and the challenges faced by his team.
He said: ‘Officers who attended the scene were met with an incredibly difficult and emotive situation, yet they acted with professionalism and care, ensuring that a thorough investigation was conducted.’
Linse, originally from Chiang Mai, Thailand, is the estranged wife of 51-year-old Edward Linse, a former businessman now detained in a psychiatric facility.
Their marriage was marked by years of domestic violence, financial hardship, and failed business ventures.
In 2017, Edward assaulted his wife at their £1.2m Cheshire home during an argument about visa issues. The attack, carried out with a children’s book as a weapon, highlighted the volatile nature of their relationship.
The couple said that in 2016 they had a lot of fun and good memories running a cafe in Chang Mai.
But Edward’s violence escalated over the years and he was convicted of a brutal assault on his own parents.
He was sentenced to be detained in a psychiatric facility in Liverpool which Linse and Louis visited regularly.
The breakdown of their marriage was compounded by financial woes. After the failure of a café venture in Chiang Mai, the couple relocated to the UK. In 2022, their landscaping business, Alderley Landscapes, ceased trading, leaving Linse to move to Haverfordwest in search of a fresh start.