‘Hard-up son shot his parents dead to get £230,000 inheritance’
A GREEDY son shot his parents dead to get his hands on a £230,000 inheritance – after earlier failing to kill them in a staged car crash, a court heard yesterday.
Stephen Seddon, 46, was hailed a hero after supposedly rescuing the loving couple from the wreckage of their sinking car when it plunged into a canal.
But it was really a bungled bid to kill his father Robert, 68, and mother Patricia, 65, the Manchester Crown Court jury was told.
Three months later Seddon – said to have “an insatiable thirst for cash” – allegedly blasted them to death with a sawn-off shotgun.
Father-of-three Seddon – known to his parents as Nic – made headlines after the drama in the Bridgewater canal last March.
Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, told the court: “He was portrayed as a hero in the media and he was happy to perpetuate that myth.
He was portrayed as a hero in the media and he was happy to perpetuate that myth.
“The accolades showered on him were music to his ears – but did little to alleviate his financial problems. He needed to resort to more certain methods to bring about their deaths. Only after they died did a critical investigation take place. It was not a terrible tragedy but a double murder at the hands of an ungrateful son.”
Mr Wright said Seddon, of Seaham, Co Durham, hired a high performance BMW on the day of the crash in order to take his parents for a belated Mother’s Day meal.
He went to their home in Sale, Greater Manchester, then drove at high speed alongside a stretch of the canal in Timperley not protected by barriers.
Seddon feigned a heart attack by clutching his chest before the car smashed into the water and started to sink, Mr Wright said.
His parents were in the back with the windows closed – along with their nephew Daniel, 17, for whom they were legal guardians.
Mr Wright said Seddon had ensured he would escape by taking with him a lock knife to cut his seat belt and a crook lock to smash his window. Witnesses saw him sitting on the roof of the car, banging on the rear windows in an apparent attempt to smash them open. He initially ignored shouted advice to stop because his actions were causing the car to sink.
Daniel clambered free and Mr and Mrs Seddon were pulled to safety by fire crews.
Seddon gave varied accounts, from chest pains to the car hitting a brick. But investigators found no evidence of debris in the road and doctors said his heart was fine.
Mr Wright said Seddon had severe financial problems, despite his parents giving him nearly £40,000. They also paid for his £89,950 house, using an equity release scheme on their home.
The couple were allegedly killed at their home in what was made to look like a murder-suicide plot.
Mr Wright said: “Both were shot at close range. Patricia was in the hallway and Robert on a sofa. The killer tried to give the impression he shot his wife, then took his life.
“The killer wanted to lay a false trail. We say that man was Stephen Seddon. He was the sole beneficiary of their will and needed them dead.” Seddon denies two charges of murder and two of attempted murder. The trial continues.