Seddon murders: Father 'told GP son tried to kill him'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-21534028

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A man who told his doctor he thought his son had tried to kill him was shot dead along with his wife 24 hours later, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Stephen Seddon was hailed a hero after parents Robert, 68, and Patricia, 65, survived when the car he was driving crashed into a canal last year.

But both were shot after Robert Seddon told his GP he thought the crash was an attempt to kill them, a jury heard.

Mr Seddon, of County Durham, denies their murders and attempted murders.

It is alleged he shot his parents at their home in Sale, Greater Manchester, on 6 July 2012, with a sawn-off shotgun because he had debts and an "insatiable thirst" for his father's cash.

Mr Seddon, a father-of-three from Benevente Street, Seaham, stood to inherit £230,000 in their wills, the court heard, although his parents had already gifted him £40,000 cash and bought his home.

The day before he was killed, retired British Airways worker Robert Seddon told his GP he was going to confront his son with his suspicions about the canal "accident", the jury was told.

The prosecution allege Mr Seddon drove a car with his parents strapped in the back into the Bridgewater Canal in Timperley in March last year, in an earlier bid to kill them.

Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, said: "He had previously expressed a view the canal incident was an accident.

"By this time he was expressing his concerns to his GP that his son had tried to kill himself and his wife when his son drove into the canal."

Mr Wright said the killer had made the scene look like Robert Seddon had killed his wife and then himself.

The case continues.