Son found GUILTY of murdering millionaire Sir Richard Sutton and trying to kill his own mum before 135mph police chase

A SON has been found GUILTY of murdering millionaire Sir Richard Sutton and trying to kill his own mum before a dramatic 135mph police chase.

Aspiring painter Thomas Schreiber, 35, stabbed Sir Richard, 83, to death with a kitchen knife at his £2 million country house after "sponging" off the hotelier for years.


The frenzied attack left the millionaire in a pool of blood outside his bedroom door after a knife was plunged 12cm into his heart

Schreiber was also convicted of attempting to murder his mother Anne Schreiber, Sir Richard's partner, who he stabbed at least nine times in the neck and back during the bloody assault as doctors needed an extraordinary 27 litres of blood to save her life.

Mrs Schreiber, 66, was stabbed so many times during the "vicious assault" by her own son she was left paralysed from the neck down and breathing through a ventilator.

He now faces a lifelong jail sentence.

Schreiber lived with the couple at the mansion rent free following his mother's divorce from his alcoholic father David but despite this, the court heard how he resented them for abandoning his father, who died in 2013.

Sir Richard's estate in the hamlet of Higher Langham near Gillingham, Dorset, was left covered in blood and looking like a "warzone" following the murderous rampage on April 7 this year – the eighth anniversary of Schreiber's father's death.

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Today at Winchester Crown Court, Hants, a jury dismissed Schreiber's defence that he was suffering from a mental disorder which meant he was not in control on the night of the killing.

After four hours and 18 minutes deliberating, they were unable to come to a unanimous decision and were asked to return a majority verdict.

Just 33 minutes later, they found Schreiber guilty of the murder of Sir Richard and the attempted murder of Mrs Schreiber by a margin of 11 to one.

The killer, wearing a blue suit and pink shirt, stared down at the ground in the dock, as the verdicts were read out.

A whispered cry of "yes" was heard from the public gallery above, where Sir Richard's children Caroline and David Sutton, as well as other members of the family, were sat.

Adjourning the case for sentencing on December 20, the judge, Mr Justice Garnham, told the defendant: "The only sentence I can pass is of life imprisonment but for the offence of murder I have to set the minimum number of years and I also have to sentence you for the attempted murder of your mother."

Following Schreiber's conviction, Sir Richard's family described him as an "incredible father".

A statement from the family read: "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.

How could any family recover from such a sudden and devastating loss.

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

During his trial, Winchester Crown Court heard evidence from Schreiber's mother.

Describing seeing Thomas coming towards her with a knife, she said: "I saw that man who appeared to me at that moment he was very… I could hardly recognise him he was so withdrawn… he was so… he looked very torn, my son was very torn in his face."

She added his eyes were "wild looking" and he looked "out of control".

Asked if Schreiber found it difficult to adjust to the move to Moorhill because she was moving in with another man, she replied: "Yes he did find it difficult.

"Thomas did not like my friend and lover Richard Sutton to be part of his life… he would probably have preferred to live in his own house."

Just minutes after the horror attack, Schreiber left chilling voice messages to friends and family as he calmly stated "I've killed my mother and I've killed her partner".

In messages played at Winchester Crown Court told a pal "I’ve made a mistake" while in a rambling call to his sister Rose's voicemail he said he "couldn’t take the hatred anymore".

HIGH-SPEED DRAMA

Schreiber then led police on a high-speed chase, with the jury shown helicopter footage of the pursuit and Schreiber's dramatic arrest, in which he pleaded with police officers "put a bullet in my f****** head".

The killer fled Moorhill, Sir Richard's country home near Gillingham, Dorset in his Range Rover before leading police on a 135mph chase to London on April 7 last year.

He was finally apprehended thanks to a "hard stop" on Chiswick High Street.

Footage from a police helicopter shows Schreiber's car ramming into a police vehicle before coming to a halt.

Police tasered the budding artist to get him to drop a knife and then restrained him while he screamed at them, pleading the officers to kill him.

He can be heard shouting on the police bodycam footage: "Shoot me please, please shoot me, please shoot me now, please.

"Please, I'm asking you, please, just do it, please, just f****** kill me, I'm f****** worthless.

"Put a bullet in my f****** head, I'm politely asking you."

Schreiber was today found guilty of the murder of millionaire hotelier Sir Sutton and the attempted murder of his mother Anne at Winchester Crown Court.

Sir Richard was listed at number 435 in the Sunday Times Rich List last year, with an estimated family fortune of £301 million.

He owned a sprawling property empire and more than 7,000 acres of land, including the five-star Sheraton Grand on London's Park Lane and the Athenaeum hotel in Mayfair.

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