AARON Barley has been given a 30-year life sentence for the brutal murders of a Stourbridge mum and son.

The 24-year-old homeless man was given life for the horrific killings of 50-year-old mother-of-two Tracey Wilkinson and 13-year-old Pierce at their Greyhound Lane home on March 30 this year.

Mrs Justice Carr, sitting at Birmingham Crown Court, said taking into consideration time spent on remand he would spend a minimum of 29 years and 178 days in prison before being considered for parole.

For the vicious attempted murder of Peter Wilkinson he was given a 10-year sentence to run concurrently with the life term.

The judge said there had been a "significant degree of planning and premeditation" - particularly in the case of the attempted murder of company director Mr Wilkinson, aged 47.

She said Barley had shown no remorse - "indeed only regret that Mr Wilkinson survived his injuries and at times satisfaction in what you did achieve".

She added: "You knew that you were destroying the family. It is what you intended."

The court was told Barley had 14 previous convictions for 21 offences dating back to when he was 12-years-old.

The judge decided against issuing a whole life sentence due to Barley's young age - he was 23 at the time of the killings, his parents died when he was young and he grew up in foster care and care homes.

He was physically and sexually abused, used cannabis regularly and has an emotionally unstable personality disorder, the court was told.

But Mrs Justice Carr told him: "You clearly represent a very significant risk of serious harm to members of the public."

She said Barley may never be released from prison and if he ever is he would remain on license for the rest of his life."