Man Jailed For Murdering His Father

8 October 2011, 06:00

A jury at Northampton Crown Court has found John Zebedee from Reading guilty of murdering his father at his home in Slapton near Towcester in Northamptonshire.

John, 55, will now serve a minimum of fourteen years in jail. Harry Zebedee, 94, was suffereing from Alzheimer's disease when he was killed by his son in February. He was attacked and beaten to death at is home, a cottage in Slapton.

Zebedee denied murder and claimed that he had killed his father after remembering alleged abuse he had suffered by him when he was a young child. He said that this had impaired his ability to exercise control. There was no evidence that any abuse had taken place and he failed to convince a jury.

Leading the investigation was Detective Sergeant Linzi Reid "This was a very sad and tragic case, of a defenceless and frail old man being attacked by someone he trusted, in what was a sustained and violent assault."

Harry's daughter Helen said "We are deeply saddened by the awful events that occurred in the early hours of the 25th of February 2011 when we lost my father."