Father who shot dead man and tried to blame murder on 14-year-old son is jailed for life

Matthew Moseley handed gun to teenager and told him to inform police he pulled trigger

Moseley shot Lee Holt with a semi-automatic weapon following a dispute between the two men's sons (PA)

A father who shot dead a man and tried to blame the murder on his 14-year-old son has been jailed for life.

Matthew Moseley, 50, opened his front door and shot Lee Holt, 32, before handing the gun to his son, who was told to inform police he was the one who pulled the trigger outside their home near Accrington, Lancashire, last October.

The boy made the fake confession and his father stayed silent as his child was arrested and led away in handcuffs.

The teenager later changed his account of the incident in Barnard Close, Oswaldtwistle, and told police his father was in fact the shooter, but the defendant maintained his innocence.

He told officers: “I thought I was covering my dad’s arse. Sticking up for him.

“He is my dad. I love him to bits but you would think he would take responsibility for what he has done and not let his son take the blame for him.”

Last week Moseley was found guilty of murder by a jury at Preston Crown Court following a three-week trial. On Tuesday he was ordered to serve a minimum of 26 years in prison.

Lee Holt died in hospital from a single wound to the chest. (PA)

The tree surgeon claimed the shooting was an accident after he grabbed the semi-automatic Beretta weapon from his son to try to lift it upwards and the gun “just went off”.

Jurors heard, though, that initially Moseley told police he did not know who shot Holt and never mentioned in nine subsequent interviews in custody that his hand was on the firearm when it was discharged in Barnard Close, Oswaldtwistle.

Prosecutor Robert O’Sullivan QC accused Moseley of inventing his account after waiting for the evidence to be served against him following his charge for murder.

Holt went to Barnard Close with his partner, Kate Phelan, 34, and her 15-year-old son, to confront Moseley’s son over an ongoing dispute between the schoolboys.

Witnesses said Ms Phelan banged on the front windows and Holt kicked the front door as they shouted for the Moseleys to come out.

Moseley’s son said he then saw his father – a keen clay pigeon shooter – bend down on one knee and take out one of his licensed guns from a cabinet next to the porch and load it with three cartridges.

His father told him to ring the police, he said, and 11 seconds into the 999 call Holt was shot once in the chest and died in hospital later the same evening.

From that point onwards the defendant sought to manipulate his son into falsely taking the blame for the shooting, the court heard.

In a covert recording of a prison van conversation, Moseley can be heard telling his son: “You are a minor. You can’t go to any jail.

“Self defence for you and you didn’t know what you were doing. Me, different ball game. And that is the way we have got to go with this.”

Giving evidence in the three-week trial, Moseley denied he had asked his son to say anything on his behalf.

He said the Beretta shotgun had been left out for cleaning and he saw his son with three cartridges in his hand amid the commotion outside.

He then claimed he made his intervention at the front door when his son aimed the weapon at Holt.

The jury rejected Moseley’s account and unanimously found him guilty after they deliberated for just under three hours and 20 minutes.

Additional reporting by PA