The Dark Truth About 'Mummy's Boy Criminals': How Mothers Go to Extremes to Shield Their Sons

THERE is a certain special bond between mums and sons, with some women convinced that their precious boy can do no wrong.

For some desperate mothers, this has even led them into a life of to protect their sons at all costs. And these aren’t just petty crimes – some have even become embroiled in murder to save their sons’ skins.

Nicola Leighton, 37, was jailed for life after she drove her son and his friends to kill a boy over ‘petty rivalry between teenagers’Credit: Metropolitan Police Leighton’s son, Tyreese Ulysses, received 13 years for manslaughter over the murder of Levi Ernest-MorrisonCredit: Metropolitan Police Alex Sprules, 17, stabbed Levi in the groin after he fell on the ground, and was jailed for at least 20 years for murderCredit: Metropolitan Police

One mum was for life after she drove her son and his friends to kill a boy over a ‘petty rivalry between teenagers’.

, 37, took her son – who later received 13 years for manslaughter – to find in south-east .

She wanted revenge when a group of , including the victim Levi, turned up at her home looking for her 19-year-old son, the Old Bailey heard.

She called the and told officers that if the youngsters came back, she was “going to batter them”, but it didn’t end there.

Shockingly, Leighton then rounded up a group of youths, including her son, and roared off in a red jeep to attack defenceless Levi, who had a , on April 10, 2021.

Alex Sprules, 17, stabbed Levi in the groin after he fell on the ground, and he was jailed at the Old Bailey for at least 20 years for murder.

A 16-year-old was sentenced to detention for life with a minimum of 16 years and 18 months for possession of an offensive weapon to run concurrently.

Leighton, also convicted of murder, was jailed for at least 23 years.

But what really drives a mother and son to commit such a heinous crime?

Criminologist explains that there are many reasons why some women will go to such extreme lengths to protect their boys.

Some women may have suffered neglect as a child themselves, so they want to protect their boys at all costs; there can be cultural reasons or a need for the power that being the centre of their boy’s world creates.

She says: “Many of these mums grew up in chaotic, neglectful , never learning what a safe and normal childhood feels like.

“So, when they have children, they try to find in them what was missing from their own childhood: loyalty, emotional security and a sense of being needed, which can become too intense.

“Sons become the focus because they are seen as the first reliably loyal men in their lives, whereas daughters may challenge them, or be perceived as rivals.

“A boy becomes the centre of their emotional world, and what appears as devotion is often a deep-seated fear of abandonment, creating a dysfunctional dynamic where a mother may expect the child to grow up too quickly to fill the role she needs.

Loyalty to a son is a moral obligation which overrides everything else, including the truth.

Alex Iszatt, criminologist

“In some cultures, the ‘boy mum’ dynamic is passed down, with sons placed on a pedestal from birth and their behaviour routinely excused, the mother’s role as defender is not just tolerated but expected.

“Many women grew up watching their own brothers protected and prioritised, so repeating that hierarchy feels natural, and when things go wrong, it’s expected and actively encouraged by the community and the family to cover up the crime. Loyalty to a son is a moral obligation which overrides everything else, including the truth.

Alex also explains that some mothers enjoy the sense of power that comes from being the centre of their child’s world.

She adds: “Being the confidante, gatekeeper, and decision-maker can be intoxicating, actively discouraging limits. In either case, the child is deprived of the discipline and guidance needed to grow into a adult.

“Growing up without clear boundaries, a child learns their actions carry little consequence and their behaviours are excused.

Amanda Meadowcroft, 53, was stopped by Border Force at Manchester Airport over a plan to smuggle 14 kilos of cocaine into the country, along with her sonCredit: National Crime Agency Amanda’s son, Bradley Couzins, was handed a seven-and-a-half-year jail sentenceCredit: National Crime Agency

“The brain adapts to its circumstances, developing narcissistic or antisocial traits where control, intimidation and manipulation become the core skills while empathy, compromise, reasoning and impulse control are out the window.”

Mum & son drug smugglers

Just last week, a drug-smuggling mum and her son from Darwen, , who plotted to smuggle nearly £300,000 worth of cocaine into the UK, were jailed.

Amanda Meadowcroft, 53, was stopped by Border Force officers at Airport who soon uncovered a shocking truth – the mum had been involved in a plan to smuggle 14 kilos of cocaine into the country, along with her son, Bradley Couzins.

Text messages showed how Couzins had masterminded the scheme, giving his mum the choice of a trip to the in economy or in first class.

He went on to confirm flight and travel logistics, including arrangements to meet ‘people’ at their apartment and pick up the class A .

The pair both pleaded guilty, and Meadowcroft was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court to seven years, while Couzins was handed a seven-and-a-half-year sentence.

Alex Iszatt says that as these mummy’s boy criminals grow into adults, it can create a power shift with the son taking over the dominant role in the relationship.

She says: “The child quickly learns exactly how far he can push his mother, and her protective instincts reinforce his behaviour rather than correct it.

“Complaints from , , or police are reframed as bias, unfair and victims are blamed, because protecting her boy is protecting her own emotional survival as a ‘good mother’.

As the son grows into adolescence the power balance can shift entirely, with him moving into the dominant role

Criminologist Alex Iszatt

“Her entire identity is built around her child; she craves his adoration and praise, he’s all she has, and so she lives in a bubble where denial and loyalty are intermingled.

“It creates a system in which she will brush over or cover up serious offences, and it explains why some mothers end up taking part in the crime itself, driving a getaway car, storing weapons, or drug running, because in her mind, they are a team, and maintaining that bond feels essential to her identity.

“As the son grows into adolescence, the power balance can shift entirely, with him moving into the dominant role.

“After years of placating him, she knows his extremes and will avoid confrontation wherever possible, not refusing demands, managing the atmosphere, absorbing his anger rather than challenging it.

“The slide into criminal involvement can be gradual; staying out all night, taking her car without asking, then using her address to stash weapons or conduct .

“She may push back, but after years of enabling aggressive behaviour, any resistance is unlikely to be met kindly, and if he has turned on her once, she’s unlikely to give him a reason to do it again.”

Murder cover-up

In 2021, a mum who tried to cover up her son’s horrific killing of his girlfriend was caught by her own horrifying dashcam that showed her chucking the murder weapon into a canal.

Lynda Bennett, 63, was jailed for three years after she tried to cover up her son’s horrific killing of his girlfriendCredit: West Midlands Police Ian Bennett stabbed 38-year-old Kerry Woolley 54 times to deathCredit: West Midlands Police Bennett was caged for life with a minimum term of 25 years after he was found guilty of murdering KerryCredit: West Midlands Police

, 63, helped Ian Bennett to after he stabbed 38-year-old 54 times to death.

She was jailed for three years after being convicted of assisting an offender and doing an act intended to pervert the course of justice.

Bennett was caged for life with a minimum term of 25 years after he was found guilty of murder.

Another lying mum was also jailed not once but twice for covering up her sons’ crimes.

became notorious back in 2009 when she was locked up for three years for perverting the course of justice in connection with one of the country’s most tragic murders.

She was found to have lied to detectives investigating the murder of 11-year-old . Her son , then aged 16, had shot and killed the boy who was home from practice in August 2007.

But it appears she didn’t learn her lesson. She was imprisoned again at Crown Court in February 2023, after helping another of her children, Joseph Mercer, to remain at large while he was wanted for dealing drugs.

Janette Mercer was locked up for three years after she lied to detectives investigating the murder of Rhys JonesCredit: PA:Press Association Her son Sean Mercer, then aged 16, had shot 11-year-old RhysCredit: Handout Rhys was killed when cycling home from football practice in August 2007Credit: PA:Press Association

She allowed the fugitive to live with her while misleading the police over his whereabouts.

Her defence told the court she had suffered after her first sentence and had been manipulated by her son. She was jailed for nine months.

It seems that for some women, no matter how heinous their son’s crime, they are blindsided by their love for them.

Rebekah Edwards’ son Lewis was a paedophile who was on remand for child sexual abuse charges.

But she still with her dead cat in a twisted bid to cover up his sick crimes.

Lewis Edwards, 25, previously of Cefn Glas, Bridgend, used to groom more than 200 girls online and admitted 160 counts of child sexual abuse and blackmail involving 4,500 indecent images of children.

He and his mother, Rebekah, 48, were then charged with perverting the course of justice by concealing further evidence from the police, including burying the phone.

These days social media rewards the devoted boy mum, their little kings are shown as perfect

Alex Iszatt, Criminologist

Lewis Edwards was handed a two-year and eight-month sentence for further possession of indecent images and 12 months for perverting the course of justice.

His mother, a former social care worker for Bridgend Council, was given a two-year sentence, for which she had to serve half in custody.

Edwards, a former police officer with South Police, posed as a teenage boy to target young girls between 10 and 16, grooming them into sharing indecent images of themselves.

Alex Iszatt now fears that, as well as being used as a grooming ground for paedophiles like Edwards, it could also put ‘boy mums’ under increasing pressure to protect their sons’ perfect personas.

She says: “These days, social media rewards the devoted boy mum, their little kings are shown as perfect. It creates pressure to keep up the performance, so bad behaviour gets edited out, brushed over, or reframed as funny.

“Some mothers start to feel that if their son acts out, it reflects badly on them, so they either hide it or push him to behave in ways that look good online.

“And it’s not just the content creators; other mums watching this feel the pressure too, because they can’t see how they could ever make their own child look that perfect, so they over‑compensate.

“In both situations, the child learns he can control the atmosphere, because the adults are more focused on the image than the behaviour, leading to a pattern of hiding, excusing, and performing which can slide into covering up serious behaviour.”

Rebekah Edwards buried one of her paedophile son’s phones with her dead cat in a bid to cover up his sick crimesCredit: PA Lewis Edwards, 25, used Snapchat to groom more than 200 girls onlineCredit: PA