Nine Years in Jail for Woman Who Killed Her Mother
Court told that Ark Acton dinner lady had been abusive to Hanaa Bennis
Hanaa Bennis stabbed her mother 30 times in frenzied attack filming the aftermath on her phone. Picture: Met Police
January 22, 2024
A 22-year-old woman from Acton has been jailed for nine years for killing her mother after stabbing her over 30 times.
A trial at the Old Bailey, which concluded this Thursday (18 January) was told how Hanaa Bennis had filmed Aziza Bennis’s body after the attack in a flat in Clariat Court, Boddington Gardens on 15 August 2022.
Evidence was presented of abuse towards the daughter by her 57-year-old woman who worked at Ark Acton Academy as a dinner lady and was described as an alcoholic.
The pair had a volatile relationship prior to the attack exchanging insults by text messages. On the day of the fatal assault neighbours reported hearing shouting and screaming from the flat at around 3pm with Mrs Bennis begging her daughter to stop hurting her. When the police entered the property they found Aziza Bennis in the foetal position on the floor covered in blood. She was pronounced dead at the scene with a knife wound to the right thigh proving to be the blow that killed her.
Haana Bennis, whose address was given as Uxbridge Road Ealing, had denied a charge of murder but admitted to manslaughter by diminished responsibility. She had a history of depression and self-harm which she attributed to mistreatment at the hands of her mother.
In a statement she said, “My mother attacked me with a knife. I sustained multiple injuries on my body from my mother’s actions. I acted in self-defence.”
The prosecution accepted that there was evidence of Aziza Bennis’s alcoholism and violence towards her children and that Hanaa Bennis’s disruptive and rebellious behaviour, which often involved her going missing, was the result of abuse by her mother.
Two medical reports were presented at the trial stating that she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of childhood trauma. However, Judge Nigel Lickley said that she understood what she was doing when she killed her mother and intended to do so rejecting the mitigation of diminished responsibility.
Boddington Gardens. Picture: Facebook
The family had been living on the estate for over seventeen years being one of the first to move in and Mrs. Bennis, who was originally from Casablanca in Morocco, was well-liked by her neighbours.
At the time of her death the Ark Acton Headmaster Oli Knight said, " She was a long-standing member of staff and will be missed. We will offer support to staff and students and hope to find a fitting way to remember Aziza when we return to school."
In addition to the jail term Hanaa Bennis will have a further five years on extended licence.
Value Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |