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A jobless painter has been found guilty of murdering millionaire Sir Richard Sutton and paralysing his own mother.
Thomas Schreiber was convicted of killing the hotelier and the attempted murder of his mother Anne Schreiber at Winchester Crown Court today.
The 35-year-old previously admitted the manslaughter of Sir Richard and pleaded guilty to driving a Range Rover dangerously on the A303, A4 and M3.
Earlier this week it emerged in court he told a psychiatrist that without lockdown the attack ‘wouldn’t have happened’.
Thomas Schreiber is on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of the murder of Sir Richard Sutton, 83 and the attempted murder of his mother, Anne Schreiber (pictured with Thomas)
Sir Richard (pictured), an 83-year-old baronet who owned a string of hotels including the Sheraton Grand on London’s prestigious Park Lane, died in the knife attack in April this year
Defence witness, consultant psychiatrist Dr Tim Rogers, told the court this week the defendant’s history of mental ill health contributed to a ‘significant impairment of rational thought’.
He said the defendant told him: ‘I am 150 per cent certain if there hadn’t been a lockdown, it wouldn’t have happened.’
The attack happened at Sir Richard’s Moorhill estate near Gillingham, Dorset, which he shared with the Schreiber family – with the defendant living in an annexe – following the separation of the defendant’s parents.
The court has heard the defendant had been unhappy at his mother becoming the partner of Sir Richard, calling her a ‘gold-digging b***h’ and Schreiber felt unfairly treated financially compared to his two sisters.
The defendant has told the court he felt a ‘loss of control’ and he ‘could not physically stop’ the knife attack on his mother and Sir Richard.
Dr Rogers, told the court that the defendant’s history of mental ill health contributed to a ‘significant impairment of rational thought’.
He said Schreiber had a ‘major depressive disorder’ which would have been worsened by family arguments and the Covid-19 lockdown.
He said that depression can lead to ‘cycles of negative thoughts’ that could increase the chances of the defendant suffering ‘anger and irritability’.
Dr Rogers said: ‘He was using coping mechanisms like meeting friends, then (because of) the effects of the pandemic those coping mechanisms were no longer there.
Sir Richard Sutton, pictured with his wife Lady Sutton and their children David and Caroline
Police guard Sir Richard’s £2million property in the Dorset hamlet of Higher Langham in April
‘He was isolated and essentially locked in this annexe in the middle of these family problems, it’s reasonable this had an effect on his mental health.’
He added drinking alcohol and the fact it was the anniversary of the death of the defendant’s father, David Schreiber, could also have been contributing factors to the impairment of his mental state.
Giving evidence to the trial, Schreiber had described hearing a voice saying ‘attack, attack, attack’, but Dr Rogers said although the defendant had ‘intrusive thoughts’, he described them as his ‘own thoughts’.
Dr Rogers said: ‘These symptoms changed during lockdown… he told me his mental health received a full frontal attack.
‘He said he was afraid to go downstairs… things became mind numbing for him.’
Dr Rogers added that the defendant had not described experiencing hallucinations or paranoia and did not have symptoms of bipolar disorder.
Pictured: A jury has been shown footage released by the Metropolitan Police of Schreiber being chased at 135mph before armed police seized him in the hours following the attack
One ‘distressive’ thought Schreiber reported having every single day since lockdown began was ‘they don’t care about you just like they didn’t care about dad’ and he began to consider using a shotgun to ‘blow my brains out’.
The court heard Schreiber admitted having an ‘uncontrollable rage’ after hearing a voice in his head shout ‘attack, attack, pick up the knife’ on the day of the killing.
Dr Rogers concluded Schreiber was suffering from an ‘abnormality of mental functioning’ at the time, which substantially impaired his ability to form rational judgements and exercise self control.
He added: ‘That being the anniversary of his father’s death, it is likely that activated all these past resentments.’
Psychiatrist Dr John Sandford, called by the prosecution, said he did not consider that the defendant suffered from a major depressive disorder.
He said 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 added the defendant had visited his GP in March 2021 showing symptoms of ‘mixed anxiety’.
He said the defendant told him: ‘I am 150 per cent certain if there hadn’t been a lockdown, it wouldn’t have happened’.
Dr Sandford said: ‘My headline conclusion is he doesn’t suffer from a mental disorder, there is no evidence that he has a severe mental illness like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, there is no evidence of that at all.
‘He was a little bit of a lost soul, he had anger and resentment about his childhood that had never been resolved – he was unhappy but he didn’t have a mental disorder.
‘He has a history of poor anger control and aggression within his family, it’s a possibility drink is a significant factor in this.’
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