Woman golfer, 40, hit her elderly mother over the head with a broom because she couldn't cope with caring for Parkinson's disease sufferer

A county championship-winning female golfer hit her seriously ill elderly mother over the head with a broom after she snapped under the pressure of looking after her.
Julia Wilkerson, 40, lashed out after caring for her 71-year-old mother, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, for six years.
Wilkerson, a former team captain of Norfolk Ladies County Golf Association and five-time winner of Norfolk county championships, found herself hauled into court.

Sportswoman Julia Wilkerson, 40, lashed out after caring for her 71-year-old mother

Charity chiefs have now urged thousands of stressed-out unpaid carers to seek support if they are struggling to cope under the immense strain.
Wilkerson and her mother 'clearly love each other' but their relationship had tragically broken down, a court heard yesterday.
Wilkerson, of King's Lynn, Norfolk, had fallen into a 'cycle of resentment and guilt' as she feared that her life was no longer her own, the town's magistrates' court heard.

She had taken on the 'very serious responsibility' of looking after her mother after quitting as a very successful regional golfer.
Wilkerson lost her temper after getting into a row with her mother as they cleared out the ailing pensioner's garage on October 5 last year.
Yvonne Neil, prosecuting, said: 'She (the mother) admits she hit her on the back, which led to Julia assaulting her using a broom.'

Wilkerson, a former team captain of Norfolk Ladies County Golf Association and five-time winner of Norfolk county championships, found herself hauled into court

Ms Neil said her mother suffered bleeding to the head and broken skin and the assault was 'entirely disproportionate to the victim slapping her on the back'.
She suffers from incurable Parkinson's Disease, a devastating neurological condition which attacks the central nervous system and affects about 127,000 people in the UK.
Most victims are aged at least 50 but younger people can get it too - one in 20 sufferers is under 40.
Ian Graham, defending, said it was an 'unfortunate case of two people who clearly love each other'.
Mr Graham said: 'The relationship has got into difficulty.
'Julia has siblings but she was the person who decided to take on the very serious responsibility of becoming her carer.
'It appears to have got too much for her.'
He said she had got into a 'difficult situation' with her mother but they now hoped to repair their battered relationship.
Wilkerson was ordered to pay £100 costs and a £15 victim surcharge after she was found guilty of assault by beating.
She also got a 12-month conditional discharge.
Chairman of the bench, Jill Skinner, told Wilkerson: 'Both you and your mother are probably very upset by the whole thing.'
Last night Maria Plumb, spokesman for Norfolk Carers Helpline, said: 'There are thousands of carers nationwide and 80,000 in Norfolk and services do exist to support these carers.
'Asking for help is not an admission of failure.
'There is support there and we want to help them have a normal relationship with the person they are caring for.'
She added: 'All these feelings are common and we want to get them back to the stage where it is their husband, wife, mother, daughter and to look past the illness.
'We do get many calls from people who are frustrated and resentful but on the flip side we do get people who are very happy to continue caring.'
Barbara Williams, director of Parkinson's UK, which runs a helpline and network of support workers, said: 'We would always urge people to contact the helpline.
'We also have support workers and we have paid staff around the UK who are there to support people with Parkinson's and their families.
'We have local groups, where people can meet people in a similar situation.'
She added: 'Some of our local groups will be able to provide some support in the form of respite, so people can take a break.
'All these things can help to take the pressure out of the pressure cooker.'

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