A mother who encouraged one of her sons to kill the other has been found guilty of attempted murder.

Alison Murphy, 52, sent chilling texts to her youngest son Gary saying: "I definitely think he should be killed but not sure stabbings is the right method."

She added Gary should make his brother Anthony "fall in the harbour or off a cliff", adding: ""I wish I'd never had him."

Gary, 22, knifed 26-year-old Anthony in the neck slicing his jugular vein in a savage attack in April this year.

He admitted attempted murder but his mother, who denied the charge, was found guilty at by a jury at Carlisle Crown Court.

Anthony, who lost one-and-a-half litres of blood, told police it "crossed his mind" that his mother may have had something to do with the attack.

But he said he didn't believe it when she called an ambulance.

Judge Peter Davies will sentence her and Gary together at a later date.

He warned the mother: "Unless there is something unexpected you must expect, in this very sad case, a considerable custodial sentence."

Detective Chief Inspector Roy Ledingham said Anthony Murphy was lucky to survive the attack.

"This was a particularly distressing case. Not only did one man attempt to kill his brother, but he did so under the encouragement and direction of their own mother.

"In his police interview, Gary Murphy showed no regret for his actions.

"Whilst Alison Murphy, throughout her interview and the court case, has refused to accept she played any role in the brutal attack that took place in her home."