A 26-year-old man was today behind bars awaiting a life sentence for murdering his “kind and loving” grandmother and attempting to stab a nine-year-old boy to death.

Nathaniel Flynn, who went on a violent rampage in Shipley five months ago, was told by Mr Justice Keith at Bradford Crown Court yesterday that it was simply a question of how many years he will spend in jail before parole can even be considered.

Flynn pleaded guilty to murdering 84-year-old retired head teacher Louisa Denby by repeatedly stabbing her in the chest and neck at her home in Prospect Mount, Shipley, between June 29 and July 2.

Police found her body in a bedroom after they had forced their way into her semi-detached house.

Flynn also admitted attempting to murder schoolboy Jason D’Arcy on July 1.

Badly-wounded Jason staggered back to his home in Park Road, Windhill, Shipley, from the Carnegie skate park at Windhill recreation ground.

A court order which had prevented Jason from being publicly named was lifted at the request of prosecutor Adrian Waterman QC.

Slightly-built Flynn, wearing a light blue short-sleeved shirt and heavy black-rimmed spectacles, stared straight ahead in the secure dock in the courtroom throughout the hearing.

His barrister, Jamie Hill QC, said the allegations could be put because the Crown had now seen a psychiatric report.

Flynn will be sentenced on Wednesday, December 18, when his mother has flown from the US where she lives.

Mr Waterman said Flynn’s family wanted her to be at the sentencing hearing.

“It is her son who is the defendant and her mother who is the victim,” he said.

Mr Waterman said Jason, who is now ten, had been invited to meet Prime Minister David Cameron next Wednesday.

Although he will not be present at the sentencing hearing, his father, who was accompanying him to London, would attend.

Mr Justice Keith told Flynn: “You know there is only one sentence I can pass, that is a sentence of life imprisonment, but I must decide how long you must remain in custody before you can be considered for release on licence by the parole board.”

After the hearing, senior investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector Nick Wallen, praised people who had helped police to arrest Flynn within hours of the attacks.

“I would also like to thank all of those members of the local community who provided the police with witness statements, it is because of your evidence that Nathaniel Flynn has pleaded guilty to his crimes today,” he said.