'I will never forgive you for what you have done to me and my family... I hope you rot and suffer'

A killer who strangled his ex-partner to death had 'longstanding persecutory delusions' she was trying to poison him. Charlene Mills, 43, went to Peter Pitt's home in Gorton in September 2023 - was not seen alive again.

The pair had a 'turbulent' relationship, though Charlene was 'smitten' and keen to 'rekindle' things. After going to his house, on Hyde Road, she was brutally strangled to death in bed.

The following morning, Pitt texted his ex-wife, admitting to killing Charlene. He wrote: “I’m so sorry, tell the kids I love them, I’ve just killed Charlene.”

This week, Manchester Crown Court was told he has treatment-resistant schizophrenia and experienced delusions that Charlene was trying to poison him.

Today (Friday, January 24), Pitt was made the subject of a hospital order. He will stay in a psychiatric hospital indefinitely.

Charlene’s loved ones wept as they spoke of their beloved mum, daughter and sister.

Delphine Mills, Charlene’s mother, said “Peter has taken one of the most precious things away from me. Charlene was my first born. What that man, if I can even call him a man, has done to me and my family is beyond words.

“She still stuck by him even when we found him taking heroin in our bathroom. Charlene stuck up for him and wanted to help him move away from this world and have a better life for themselves.

“I just gave him the benefit of the doubt. I wish I hadn’t done as there was a side of him that I didn’t know about.”

She said that Pitt would call her daughter ‘some of the worst things possible’ including abusive terms such as ‘fat’ and ‘r***rd’, and even ‘ni****’.

“No matter what the situation, she would make us laugh and found a positive in anything and everything, that’s who she was. She was too