Charities have urged Norfolk’s army of unpaid carers to seek support if struggling to cope – after a court heard how a woman who had cared for her elderly mother for six years lashed out when the pressure became too much.

Julia Wilkerson putting on the fifteenth green, one hole away from the championship. Photo: Bill Smith een 11/5/01

Julia Wilkerson, a former team captain of the Norfolk Ladies County Golf Association and five-time winner of the Norfolk county championships, snapped while caring for her 71-year-old mother and hit her over the head with a broom.

King’s Lynn Magistrates’ Court heard that while Wilkerson and her mother, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, “clearly love each other” six years of care had caused the relationship to break down.

Furthermore, the 40-year-old, of Saddlebow Road, King’s Lynn, had fallen into a “cycle of resentment and guilt” at the feeling her life was no longer her own, the court heard.

Magistrates handed out a 12-month conditional discharge after being handed a series of letters which showed her to be a ‘very caring person’.

Today, charities for carers told how such feelings of ‘anger and resentment’ were common, but reiterated that support was out there for anyone feeling in such a way.

Maria Plumb, spokesman for Norfolk Carers Helpline, said: “There are thousands of carers nationwide and 80,000 in Norfolk and services do exist to support these carers.