Sir Richard Sutton: Man accused of murdering millionaire says he ‘could not stop’ stabbing him and mother

‘I saw the knife and the voice in my head had shouted: ‘Attack, attack’,’ says defendant

Schreiber admits causing fatal injuries to Sir Richard and knife wounds to his mother, but denies murder and attempted murder (PA)

A man has told a court how he “could not stop” as he stabbed millionaire hotelier Sir Richard Sutton to death and paralysed his own mother.

Thomas Schreiber, 35, targeted the pair on the anniversary of his alcoholic father’s death in April, after his mother shouted at him for being “drunk like his father”.

He is accused of the murder of 83-year-old baronet Sir Richard and the attempted murder of his mother, Anne Schreiber.

The attack happened at Sir Richard’s estate Moorhill near Gillingham, Dorset, which he shared with the Schreiber family after the defendant’s parents separated.

Schreiber told his trial at Winchester Crown Court how he had a “fantastic” relationship with his father, David, but admitted that he could be “very dramatic”, such as firing a shotgun outside their home.

He had previously admitted the manslaughter of Sir Richard and driving a Range Rover dangerously on the A303, A4 and M3, but he denies the murder and attempted murder charges.

Sir Richard Sutton was killed at his home on 7 April (PA )

The defendant, who described himself as a “passionate” artist, said his father was a functioning alcoholic before the divorce, after which his depression and dependency worsened until his death on 7 April 2013.

Schreiber said that he became “confused and unhappy” at his parents’ split and described the process of transferring the family’s possessions to Moorhill from the family cottage where his father remained living as “hell”.

He said: “It was excruciating to watch him, it was chaos, we were coming and going to the house to pick up the family possessions and Dad was there in floods of tears, very upset.”

Describing the impact of the death of his father, a translator, Schreiber said: “I was devastated, I felt incredibly guilty and a great deal of shame. I felt we failed Dad as a family unit that was there to support one another.”

He said that the anniversary of his father’s death – on which the fatal attack happened – was “for me personally very important, I would always have a celebratory drink and sent a message to siblings toasting to Dad wherever I was in the world.”

Schreiber said on the day of the attack, he had gone to visit his father’s grave and spent the afternoon painting before having a chat with Sir Richard as they remembered his father, before his mother returned having also visited the grave.

He said: “Richard and I were sat peacefully in the office, Mum came in, she took one look at me and said: ‘You are drunk, just like your father’.

“I shouted ‘I am not drunk’, then she stormed off into the kitchen and I stormed off after her and I punched her in the arm or the back.

“There was a knife on the island and I just went completely crazy and I saw the knife and the voice in my head had shouted: ‘Attack, attack.’ I picked up the knife and started stabbing my mum.

“Richard came in and I think he tried to stop me and I started stabbing him and I just couldn’t stop attacking my mum and Richard.

“My mum at one point shouted: ‘Will you stop, will you stop?’ And I couldn’t stop.”

He described how he continued to go “back and forth” between the pair, stabbing them.

When asked why he attacked his mother, Schreiber said: “My mum knew that it was Dad’s anniversary and she said it was a very taboo topic to talk about Dad in the household.

“When Mum said that, I went completely crazy, I wasn’t drunk and I wasn’t a drunk like my father. And after she said that I physically couldn’t stop what I was doing and I didn’t know what I was doing, but what I was doing was horrific.”

He added: “I was very sensitive, I am a very sensitive man and when it comes to Dad I am extra, extra sensitive.

“It was a very accusatory anger when she said what she said, and I completely lost it and I went completely crazy.”

Describing his state of mind afterwards, Schreiber said: “My mind was completely frazzled, I want to leave behind the horror show I had caused, say my goodbyes and end my life.”

Schreiber, who said he had had 35 jobs in sales since he was 18, also said he “had never been close” to hotelier Sir Richard, but was grateful for the “incredibly” generous gift from him of £100,000 in 2015 to go towards a property, as well as a £1,000 monthly living allowance.

He described how family arguments had previously descended into violence, including in the summer of 2019 when he had pulled his mother’s hair and hit her in the car after she called him a “f****** leech”.

And the defendant said that he was left “traumatised” by Sir Richard hitting him with his walking stick – which shattered in the incident – during a family argument in November 2020 over whether his sister, Louisa, should be allowed to have a chandelier for her home.

He said this led to him closing himself off as his relationship with the rest of the family had hit “rock bottom” and life at Moorhill was like a “pressure cooker”, worsened by the isolation of lockdown.

Schreiber admits causing the fatal injuries to Sir Richard and the knife wounds to his mother but denies murder and attempted murder. The trial continues.