GUILTY UK - Sir Richard Sutton, 83, murdered, Anne Schreiber, 65, wounded, Dorset, 7 Apr 2021

  • #121
2:08pm

The defendant is in the witness box and the jury have taken their seats.

Prosecutor Adam Feest QC will cross examine Thomas Schreiber.

2:09pm

Mr Feest shows an image of the upstairs corrider and asks is that where you killed Sir Richard?

The defendant replies: "I don't recall attacking Richard upstairs but I can't remember going upstairs to attack Richard."

The defendant adds that he remembers attacking Sir Richard downstairs.

2:10pm

Mr Feest QC references footprint evidence from upstairs which matched the defendant's footwear.

Thomas Schreiber says he has no physical recollection of attacking Sir Richard upstairs.

2:11pm

The prosecutor asks Thomas Schreiber how he sat on the green sofa in the kitchen without leaving any trace? Mr Feest QC says no blood was found on that item of furniture.

The defendant suggests he may have washed his hands.

2:13pm

Mr Feest QC repeats that there was no blood at all on the sofa.

Thomas Schreiber said he didn't sit there very long and he was collecting his thoughts.

"I was just in complete shock and horror," said the defendant. "I just needed to sit."

2:14pm

Why didn't you try to get some help for his mother, Mr Feest QC asks.

"Because I thought I had killed her," the defendant replies.

2:15pm

Asked if he went to check on her, the defendant says no.

2:16pm

Mr Feest QC asks: "What did you do when you got up from that sofa?"

"I decided that I had to leave the house and end my house [life??] and say my goodbyes to my friends and family," says the defendant.

2:18pm

Mr Feest QC asks how did the defendant get from the sofa to leaving the property?

Thomas Schreiber says he went to the bathroom, got changed and before leaving in the Range Rover he went back into the house to pick up a knife to use on himself.

2:20pm

Mr Feest QC shows the defendant a photograph of the bloodied upstairs corridor.

When asked how Sir Richard's body was positioned when he was killed, the defendant says he does not know.

2:22pm

Mr Feest QC says: "Do you accept that you did stab him upstairs?"

The defendant: "I do."

2:26pm

Thomas Schreiber is asked if he stood on Sir Richard.

"I don't remember," says the defendant.

He is asked if he kicked him.

The defendant gives the same response.

2:28pm

"By the time you were upstairs killing Sir Richard what was your intention," asks Mr Feest QC.

The defendant said there was never any intention to hurt anyone and that he had intented to celebrate his father's life with a quiet drink with Sir Richard, his mother and his family.


LIVE: Murder accused tells court 'I couldn't control myself' during knife attack
 
  • #122
2:28pm

Mr Feest QC says: "Had you gone upstairs to finish him off?"

The defendant says: "No."

2:30pm

Mr Feest QC says: "You hated Sir Richard, didn't you?"

Thomas Schreiber replies that at times he did hate him and other times he did not hate him.

2:33pm

The defendant is shown a picture of a knife in a sink.

2:35pm

Mr Feest QC says: "We know that your blood was also found on the tap in that room. Do you accept you put that knife there?

"I must have done," says Thomas Schreiber.

In a follow up question he is asked if he put the knife there after he killed Sir Richard, the defendant says he cannot remember.

2:36pm

Mr Feest QC asks if it started in the kitchen how does it then go into the study?

Thomas Schreiber says: "I think Richard tried to make a phone call in the study and I attacked him in there."

2:38pm

The defendant is asked how he ended up attack Sir Richard in the study.

He says Sir Richard must have walked to the study.

2:38pm

Mr Feest QC suggests Thomas Schreiber's account is a complete lie.

The defendant says he disagrees.


LIVE: Murder accused tells court 'I couldn't control myself' during knife attack
 
  • #123
2:39pm

Mr Feest QC says: "Do you know why you went into the study to attack Sir Richard?"

The defendant says: "No, I don't."

2:40pm

"I don't think I attacked Richard with a glass," he adds.

2:44pm

Questions switch to the defendant attacking his mother.

Asked where he last remembers seeing her, the defendant says she was on the floor.

2:45pm

Mr Feest QC asks if there was a time when Sir Richard was on the floor in the kitchen and the defendant says he does not remember.

2:50pm

The defendant is asked if he accepts the evidence shows nothing to suggest Sir Richard went from the kitchen to the study.

Thomas Schreiber says he does accept this.

2:55pm

Asked if he was in good spirits when he was talking with Sir Richard prior to the attack, the defendant said he was, confirming he was calm.

2:56pm

That mood continued until the defendant's mother came home, Mr Feest QC asks.

The defendant says yes.

3:00pm

Mr Feest QC asks if it was comment from his mother that caused him to lose control.

The defendant says yes it was.

3:02pm

Referencing the defendant saying he lost control, Mr Feest QC says: "Would it be more accurate to say you let your anger get the better of you?"

"No because I wasn't in control," says the defendant.

He adds: "When I have been angry before I have been in control."


3:04pm

Mr Feest QC references the first voicemail left by the defendant after the incident in which he said "I've let my anger get the better of me".

The prosecutor asks why he said this.

"I was in complete shock so I wasn't aware of what I was saying and what I wanted to say was goodbye and apologise," said the defendant. "I wasn't really aware of what was going on."

3:05pm

Mr Feest QC asks: "Did you let your anger get the better of you?"

Thomas Schreiber replies: "I would say no because I wasn't in control of my physical self. I don't understand how anger works but it was beyond anger what had happened, okay? It was beyond anything that had happened before. It was complete madness."

3:07pm

Mr Feest QC asks why the defendant is telling a friend "he had to take action".

Thomas Schreiber says: "I wasn't really thinking about what I was saying. I just wanted to call him and say goodbye and that's the only thing I wanted to do."

3:08pm

The prosecutor asks where in the message it says something like "I lost control, it was all crazy, I couldn't stop".

"They know me well enough to know that I would have lost control," says the defendant.




LIVE: Murder accused tells court 'I couldn't control myself' during knife attack
 
  • #124
Report from the BBC:

"Mum came in and took one look at me and said 'you're drunk, just like your father'. I shouted: 'I'm not drunk.'

"She stormed off, I stormed off after her and punched her in the arm or the back."

Schreiber said he was "extra sensitive" when it came to the topic of his father, and he had been confronted by his mother in an "angry way".

As he followed her into the kitchen he said he noticed a knife on the kitchen island.

"I picked up the knife and started stabbing my mum, and Richard came in and I think he tried to stop me and I started stabbing him, and I just couldn't stop attacking my mum and Richard."

He added, becoming tearful: "My mum at one point shouted: 'Will you stop? Will you stop?' And I couldn't stop.

"And I started stabbing Richard and just going absolutely crazy and stabbing him and mum, and him and mum, and going between both of them."

He said during the attack he "wasn't thinking, I couldn't physically control myself".

[...]

Earlier in the day, the jury was shown internet searches that Schreiber had made leading up to the killing.

They included topics about attention deficit disorder and cognitive behavioural therapy, but also "how to fight dark reoccurring thoughts", "12 clues a relationship with a parent is toxic", "five ways to free yourself from dark and oppressive thoughts", and "revenge on gold digging mother".


Sir Richard Sutton: Thomas Schreiber 'heard voices' before the killing
 
  • #125
3:27pm

Mr Feest QC asks the defendant if he was drunk when he attacked Sir Richard and his mother.

Thomas Schreiber says he was not drunk.

He adds that he recalls being "tipsy".


3:27pm

Mr Feest QC asks: "Did you snap?"

The defendant replies: "I went crazy, absolutely crazy. The whole thing is complete madness."

3:28pm

At about 6pm the defendant would have been almost three times the legal limit to drive, says Mr Feest QC, based on backward analysis from when he was arrested.


3:29pm

From 7pm to 10.30pm when he was stopped in London, Mr Feest QC asks if the defendant had opportunities to end his life.

The defendant says "I suppose I did".

3:33pm

Asked why he didn't stop for police, the defendant said he wanted them to just leave him alone.

3:34pm

Mr Feest QC puts it to the defendant that he could have stopped anytime for police on the A303, M3 and as he went into Greater London. The defendant says "yes".

Asked if the only reason he stopped because he was forced off the road, the defendant replies "yes".

3:37pm

Mr Feest QC says the defendant knew he left Sir Richard dead at Moorhill.

"I realised what I had done and I left the house," says the defendant.

The prosecutor asks the same question again.

Thomas Schreiber says: "I didn't know he was dead but I thought I'd killed them."

3:41pm

The defendant is asked where he was going with two passports, a suitcase and his phone.

He replies that he was "going nowhere" and "I just wanted to be left alone".

3:48pm

Mr Feest QC is asking the defendant for his recollection on the timing of events at Moorhill on the night of the attack.

3:57pm

The defendant is being asked about blood found on the annex door handle and the bannisters inside this area of the property.

4:04pm

The defendant is asked where he was when Sir Richard was upstairs in his own bedroom and the ensuite bathroom.

Thomas Schreiber said he cannot recall.

Put to him if he agrees there must have been a pause in the violence, the defendant says "it's possible".

4:05pm

Mr Feest QC asks if the defendant agrees if all of this happened before the final attack upon Sir Richard at the end of the corridor.

"I don't remember going upstairs as I said to you," the defendant says.

LIVE: Murder accused tells court 'I couldn't control myself' during knife attack
 
  • #126
4:13pm

The prosecutor is reading the defendant messages he had sent to his girlfriend in January.

4:16pm

In a message to his friend James Reid in February the defendant said he is "thinking of revenge noon and night".

Mr Feest QC is this was a proper reflection of Thomas Schreiber's feelings towards his family.

"At times but I had a lot of dark thoughts that I was trying to understand, understand my own emotions," says the defendant.

4:21pm

Asked if he felt he was financially prejudice compared to his sisters, the defendant says: "Yes, at times I felt that."

He adds that at times he was "paranoid" by this point.

4:23pm

Mr Feest QC asks if by April had all these feelings against Sir Richard come together.

Thomas Schreiber says: "No they were on going."

4:24pm

Mr Feest QC: "Did you attack Sir Richard because you didn't appreciate being knocked around by him?"

"No, not at all," the defendant replied.

4:25pm

Mr Feest QC asks if it was that hatred that the defendant had for Sir Richard that drove him to find the 83-year-old and finish him off upstairs.

"No, absolutely not," says the defendant.

He adds that it wasn't him behaving in that way on the evening of April 7 at Moorhill.

4:27pm

That concludes today's proceedings.

The trial will continue tomorrow morning.


LIVE: Murder accused tells court 'I couldn't control myself' during knife attack
 
  • #127
Doesn't look like things are going the defendant's way.

A rather convenient lapse in his memory when he followed Sir Richard upstairs and must have lain in wait for him to come out of his bathroom.

Also I remember at the start of the trial the phone had been taken off the hook about an hour before his mum came home.
 
  • #128
  • #129
Defence witness, consultant psychiatrist Dr Tim Rogers, told the court that the defendant’s history of mental ill health contributed to a “significant impairment of rational thought”.

He said Thomas Schreiber had a “major depressive disorder” which would have been worsened by family arguments and the Covid-19 lockdown.

[...]

Psychiatrist Dr John Sandford, called by the prosecution, said he did not consider that the defendant suffered from a major depressive disorder.

He said that the defendant had been given anti-depressants while living in Australia in 2017 but he had never been referred to a secondary service such as a consultant or a community mental health nurse. [...]

“He has a history of poor anger control and aggression within his family, it’s a possibility drink is a significant factor in this.”

Man accused of murdering Dorset millionaire links attack to lockdown, court told
 
  • #130
  • #131
  • #132
11:10am

The jury was sent out yesterday to consider verdicts. After being adjourned overnight, they resumed their deliberations this morning.


11:15am

The judge is in court and has said the jury are being called back in.

11:17am

The foreman in on their feet.

11:21am

The judge has given direction that he will accept majority verdicts of 11-1 or 10-2 if the jury cannot reach unanimous decision.

11:21am

The jury retire back to their deliberation room.

11:27am

We will resume updates as and when the case is called back on.

LIVE: Jury consider verdicts in Sir Richard Sutton murder trial
 
  • #133
VERDICTS IN!!

11:49am

The case has been called back on.


11:50am

We are waiting for the jury to return to their seats. The defendant is currently seated in the dock.


11:51am

The jury has been deliberating for four hours and 51 minutes.


11:51am

The foreman is back on their feet. She says the jury has reached a verdict on each count.


11:52am

Thomas Schreiber found guilty of murder.

11:52am

By a verdict of 11 to 1.

11:52am

Thomas Schreiber guilty of attempted murder.

11:52am

By again a verdict of 11 to 1.

11:53am

The judge says he would like time to read statements. The sentencing is adjourned until Monday.

12:00pm

The judge thanks the jury for their attention and work throughout the trial.

LIVE: Man found guilty of murdering Sir Richard Sutton and his mother
 
  • #134
I'm so pleased with these verdicts. Yee-ha!!!

Spoiled entitled brat with no remorse.
 
  • #135
12:01pm

A statement has been issued by the family of Sir Richard Sutton.

They have said: “How could any family recover from such a sudden and devastating loss?

"We can never bring back Sir Richard but his spirit will very much live on, alongside the very happy memories we have of our incredible father, brother and grandfather.

"His values of being warm, generous and compassionate to everyone he met will be carried forward by future generations, and will never be extinguished.”


12:02pm

The judge confirmed the sentencing will take place on Monday afternoon and he can only pass a life sentence.

LIVE: Man found guilty of murdering Sir Richard Sutton and his mother
 
  • #136
I'm so pleased with these verdicts. Yee-ha!!!

Spoiled entitled brat with no remorse.

Yep! Happy he's been found guilty. Thanks for posting the updates.
 
  • #137
Many thanks for all the updates @Tortoise
 
  • #138
You're very welcome LB and Saralou!
 
  • #139
I'm so pleased with these verdicts. Yee-ha!!!

Spoiled entitled brat with no remorse.


Thanks for the updates. Completely agree. Total spoilt brat, no remorse.

Interesting that there was 1 dissenter.
 
  • #140

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