Retired vet 'could not cope' and allegedly 'strangled mother' on Christmas Day

A vet 'calmly' told police she had killed her mother on Christmas Day, before trying and failing to kill herself, a court has heard. Stefania Glowka, 64, is accused of "murdering" her 86-year-old mother by strangling her with a belt. A court heard the defendant had been a sole carer for her mother for 17 years and "could no longer cope." Prosecutors said the plan had ultimately been for the defendant to commit suicide after killing her mother by stabbing herself in the stomach and neck. But her attempts to end her own life failed and she was later arrested for murder while being treated in an ambulance. Glowka has admitted the killing and pleaded guilty to manslaughter - but denies murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility, reports the Mirror . And in a chilling video and audio played to the jury at Bristol Crown Court , Glowka told officers: "good morning - I just killed my mother." She added: "I tried to harm myself as well - but I am very weak. Please help me" before later saying: "I strangled her. I am a retired vet so I know for sure she's dead." She describes her mother being on the floor in the bedroom and adds: "I was going to kill myself but I didn't succeed" before adding: "I was at the end of my road." While sat on the stairwell, she also tells paramedics: "I killed my mother" and adds she feels a "failure" and "would have preferred to die." Glowka is later seen on police bodyworn footage being treated for neck injuries and laying in an ambulance while she is arrested for murder. She responds by asking: "Does this mean that my mother is dead?" Opening the case for the prosecution, Simon Jones said there was "no dispute" she had unlawfully killed her mother due what she had said and done but pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility. But he added: "That guilty plea does not go far enough. it does not properly reflect the defendant's true level of responsibility. "The prosecution say that however desperate the situation was that the defendant felt she was in, there is no lawful justification for what she did." Bristol Crown Court heard the initial call to police was made at 8.11am on Christmas Day last year, when she "calmly reported" she had just killed her mother and tried to kill herself but "didn’t succeed". When asked why she had done it, she said her mother had recently been diagnosed with Schizophrenia, and she had been a sole carer for 17 years. The jury was told when police arrived, the defendant greeted them at the door of the flat covered in blood and found an "unresponsive elderly female led on a mattress on the floor of the bedroom." CPR was given but paramedics were unable to revive her. The trial heard the defendant had pointed officers to a folder of 'important' documents inside the flat including a letter addressed to "My dearest Malla", a close friend that was dated December 25 2025. Mr Jones told the court this provided a "significant insight" into her thinking and plan. It read: "I killed my mum as I cannot continue to look after her and I love her too much to put her into an institutionalised care. I also cannot envisage life on my own, old age and inevitable health issues." She then outlines how the state will benefit from her inheritance as well as her funeral wishes. Mr Jones added: "It would seem from this letter that the defendant was getting her affairs in order prior to carrying out the killing. We say that thought process is important when it comes to considering the defendant’s state of mind at the time." The defendant was taken to hospital for treatment for two superficial stab wounds to her stomach, and one significant stab wound, approximately two inches deep to her neck. A post-mortem later concluded the victim died from injuries that were “consistent with the account of there having been a period of neck compression prior to death." The defendant had moved to the UK from Poland in December 1994, where she studied for small animal veterinary and then worked as a self-employed vet in Devizes, Wiltshire. Her mum visited the UK regularly from 1992 before moving permanently in 2004 when Poland joined the EU . She also outlined her mother's worsening medical issues. Mr Jones said the defendant then added during interview: "I felt awful but felt our story would be over and thought it would be nice to die on the same day." READ MORE: 'Growing concern' for boys not seen for days READ MORE: Cardiff McDonald's forced to close for weeks due to cockroach issue After writing the note to her friend, she said she had tried to stab herself and recalled "wiggling" the knives about inside of her to cause damage and cut herself with a scalpel blade to the right side of her neck. "Once the cut was made, she said she laid there waiting to die," the prosecution added. "She said she realised that she was not dead and now must face the consequences of her actions. "She removed the knives and left them in the bedroom and found a pair of glasses. She then used her phone to call the police to inform them of what she had done and denied ever having the thought to harm or strangle her mother previously." Glowka has denied murder due to diminished responsibility and claims she was suffering from an 'abnormality of mental function.' Mr Jones told the jury: "You may feel sympathy for the defendant. You may conclude that she was struggling, overwhelmed, depressed and unable to cope with the pressures of caring for her mother and seeing her health decline. "But sympathy is not the test as to whether this was a murder. "The question for you will not be whether this was tragic – plainly it was. The question will be whether the defence have proved that her mental condition substantially impaired her responsibility for what she did. "The prosecution say the evidence will show that it did not. This was not an uncontrollable act carried out by someone deprived of meaningful judgment or self-control. "It was a deliberate act: placing a belt around her mother’s neck and tightening it, despite her mother’s attempts in vain, and without enough strength, to grab at the belt and loosen it. "That belt was tightened with forceful and sustained force until Tamara Glowka died. "We say those planned actions, together with the careful means by which the defendant sought to put her affairs in order, after this, show that she was in fact fully capable of understanding what she was doing."The trial continues.