A 25 year-old man from Chorley who plotted to murder his "over-protective" adoptive parents with the help of a friend has been given an indefinite hospital order.
Christopher Monks, claimed was sentenced along with his accomplish Shaun Starkes, 20, who was given a seven year indeterminate prison sentence at Preston Crown Court yesterday.
Monks of Preston Road, Clayton-le-Woods and Skarnes, of Sutton Way, Great Sutton, Ellesmere Port were found guilty of conspiracy to murder in July.
Around 3pm on Saturday 7th February last year saw Christopher Monks (senior) and his wife Elizabeth return from a day of shopping to their Preston Road home.
There they found their son and Skarnes playing computer games in the lounge. This was their first meet with Skarnes after the pair became friends through an internet forum.
Monks and Skarnes continued to play on the computer until around 9pm when the latter claimed he was going to get a taxi to the train station in order to catch a train home.
Around five hours later Mr Monks (senior) was awoken from his sleep and noticed that Skarnes was stood to the left hand side of his bed, although he initially though it was his son.
Skarnes had a knife and the pair struggled from the bedroom into another room across the hallway where Skarnes tried to stab his victim.
Mrs Monks was asleep downstairs at the time and was awoken by shouting and struggling. She managed to strike Skarnes and prevent any serious injury, before the police were contacted.
The police arrived and arrested Skarnes who was still in possession of the kinfe.
Although originally treated as a witness, Monks junior later told a police officer that he and Skarnes had talked about killing his parents. He was also later arrested.
In further police interviews the pair admitted discussing killing Mr and Mrs Monks and had agreed a plan where Skarnes would leave the house and Monks would contact him when his parents had gone to sleep.
However, the pair later claimed that the whole scenario had been role play and that they didn’t intend to harm Mr and Mrs Monks.
Detective Inspector Marc Nasser, who led the investigation said: “I am pleased with the sentences handed down by the judge today.
This was a testing investigation for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service, not only due to its technological aspects, but the very sensitive nature of the content found detailing plans to kill Monks’ parents.
The case demonstrates how certain crimes can evolve over time with technology, and that we have the resources, capability and commitment to gather electronic evidence to prosecute offenders and safeguard the public."
Monks ran away from home over three years ago when his parents found out he was seeing an older man. They confiscated his mobile phone and restricted his internet usage.
Monks told Skarnes online that he considered his family "a disgrace", he was "trapped in a cage" and "the only time I get to myself is when they are asleep, so eternal rest is the best solution".
Temporary Detective Superintendent Andy Murphy, from the Force Major Investigation Team, added: “The sentences handed down by the judge today reflect the very serious nature of this crime, which ultimately could have ended in tragedy.
From the outset this was a difficult investigation due to the close relationships of the people involved.
I appreciate that this has been an incredibly testing period of time for Mr and Mrs Monks and I can only hope they are able to move forward with their lives.
This case should reassure the people of Lancashire that we do have the capacity and capability to investigate this type of crime.
I would also like it to serve as a warning to people who think that they can plan crimes from behind their computer screens: there is nowhere to hide and we do have the resources to be able to bring you to justice.”
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