lit a candle 4h agosaw this come up on my feed this morning, not sure why it reached me all the way out here in North Carolina but it did. kept looking at that line about her being the kindest soul anyone could wish to know. you read enough of these local news stories and they blur together but this one stuck, maybe because it was so plain, no big career no public life, just a woman in her own kitchen. I was out watering the tomatoes when I read it and just stood there a minute. seventy years old. that's it. that's the whole thing. edit: meant to say, hope her husband and daughter get some peace, that's all anyone can ask for them now.
Their story
Phyllis Daly was a 70 year old woman from Maghull, Merseyside, who was killed in her own home on Clent Road on Sunday 13 July 2025. She was not a public figure before her death. She became known nationally only because of the brutal circumstances of her killing and the…
Phyllis Daly was a 70 year old woman from Maghull, Merseyside, who was killed in her own home on Clent Road on Sunday 13 July 2025. She was not a public figure before her death. She became known nationally only because of the brutal circumstances of her killing and the court case that followed, which ended with her son Graham Daly being given an indefinite hospital order after admitting manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.
Those who knew Phyllis described an ordinary, well loved woman at the centre of a close family. Her family said in a statement issued after her death that she was "a loving wife and mum with the kindest soul" and called her the "love of our lives". A neighbour, Brenda Tanner, told the Liverpool Echo that Phyllis was her "best friend". After her son's sentencing in November 2026, the family said she was "the most compassionate person anyone could wish to know", and her daughter Angela told the court that her mother's death would "never make sense" to her.
On the morning of the attack, Phyllis's husband Dave had gone out to play golf, leaving her at home. Her daughter Angela Daly grew concerned when her mother did not respond to attempts to contact her and went to the family home shortly after 12.45pm, where she found her mother's body on the kitchen floor. Phyllis was pronounced dead at the scene at 1.24pm. A post mortem found she had suffered multiple lacerations to the back of her head, a fractured skull, bruising to her neck and a fractured voice box, injuries inflicted with a knife and a golf club.
Her son Graham Daly, then 44, was arrested later that day after he was found in the beer garden of the Stanley Arms pub in nearby Aughton. He was detained under the Mental Health Act and has remained at Ashworth high security psychiatric hospital since the killing. He was charged with murder in February 2026 but at a Liverpool Crown Court hearing in July 2026 pleaded guilty instead to the lesser charge of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, a plea the prosecution accepted. The court heard that Daly had a long history of mental health difficulties and was experiencing paranoid, persecutory delusions at the time, genuinely believing he was responding to a threat to his own life. He was sentenced on 6 November 2026 to an indefinite hospital order, meaning he will remain detained until it is judged safe to release him.
Phyllis's death and the case brought widespread shock to Maghull and the wider Merseyside area. Detective Chief Inspector Alan Nuttall of Merseyside Police said Phyllis's family and loved ones had been left devastated by their "senseless loss" and that no court outcome could ever bring her back. Phyllis is survived by her husband Dave, her daughter Angela and other close family, who have asked to be allowed to grieve privately.
Biography adapted from News reports and the sources cited on this page; death reported by Facebook.
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1by People Forever
