Son denies murder despite 'let him rot' message

A man has told a jury he did not kill his father, despite leaving a voicemail message in which he said he wanted to "let him rot".

Brian Smith, 33, denies murdering his father Stanley, 73, who was found dead in the hallway of a bungalow at Fell Close in Silloth, Cumbria, in the early hours of 22 December.

The pair had been together the previous evening when neighbours reported hearing shouting and loud banging.

Carlisle Crown Court heard Brian Smith left a voicemail to his mother after he had had an argument with his father that night, in which he said "I wanted to kill him" and "let him rot". Smith said those comments had been taken out of context.

He said the messages were "overdramatised because of high-stake emotion".

The trial previously heard the pair had visited the Albion pub on 21 December to watch football.

Brian Smith told the court his father had "lost his balance and drunkenly fell over" in the hallway when they returned to his home.

Before that, he said, he had restrained his "irate" father who had tried to headbutt him, squeezed his son's hand and lashed out with a leg.

Smith believed his father was asleep after falling to the ground and said he did not think he was seriously hurt.

"When I left him he wasn't dead," said the accused, who had visited his mother and a hospital during the night before going back to Fell Close and raising the alarm.

A pathologist concluded Stan Smith's death was due to pressure on the neck and said he found "strong evidence of forceful neck compression".

Brian Smith, of Abbeytown, told jurors he could not explain how neck bruising and fractures were caused.

Nor could he account for the cause of large internal bruises on the back of Stan Smith's body, over both shoulder blades and both sides of the chest.

"I was firm but I wasn't using any aggressive amount of force," he said of the restraint he had used.

"I did not have my arms at all around my father's neck."

During cross-examination, prosecutor Kim Whittlestone said: "I would suggest you did kill your dad."

Smith replied: "You can suggest it but it is not correct."

The trial continues.

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