Man killed father then himself after row - inquest

A farmer killed his father before taking his own life after a "blazing row", an inquest has heard.

Brian Wright, 82, was reported missing on 20 November last year after missing an appointment to take his wife to hospital.

His 52-year-old son Charles Wright took his own life at the family farm near Newark, Nottinghamshire, two days later, and on 25 November Brian's body was found in a shallow grave by police.

An inquest at Nottingham Coroner's Court on Friday heard no third parties were involved, with Brian's death ruled as an unlawful killing and Charles found to have killed himself.

The court heard Nottinghamshire Police were asked to investigate a missing person report into Brian after a family member called at about 23:50 GMT on 20 November.

Brian had last been seen at about 15:10 that day, and had been set to take his wife to hospital, but neither he nor his vehicle could be found.

Det Ch Insp Ruby Burrow said Charles was among the people spoken to on the day, and he referred to a disagreement he had with his father about the farm, with others interviewed also mentioning "difficult family dynamics".

The court heard family disagreements were known to the police, which had resulted in a firearms licence being withdrawn for a period of time because of concerns firearms "could be used inappropriately because of tensions within the family".

At about 15:00 on 21 November Brian's car was found by a member of the public on a road, and CCTV established it had been driven there the previous afternoon.

Burrow told the court police were called on the morning of 22 November when a car was "apparently deliberately" driven at two people, which turned out to be Charles driving at his brother and a friend.

Later that day Charles left a voice note with a friend, in which he confirmed his father had called him "useless" and "an idiot" in the earlier row, and had suggested giving control of part of the farm to a different family member.

Mairin Casey, senior coroner, said in the voice note Charles said: "I just had a flash of red, and after 25 years and everything I've given him, he was just cutting me out like that."

Police found Charles's body in a working area of the farm that day, the court heard, with Brian's body found buried three days later.

A post-mortem examination found Brian died as a result of "pressure to the neck", with other injuries "consistent with some sort of altercation prior to the death".

Burrow confirmed police found Charles had taken his own life, adding there was no evidence of third-party involvement in either death.

"The evidence shows that Charles Wright murdered his father, and that there was no third-party involvement in the death," she told the court.

"The evidence showed [Charles] took his own life, and that there was no third-party involvement in that either."

Concluding the hearing, Casey described it as "a truly tragic case", and offered her condolences to the family.

"Whatever tensions there may have been leading to this tragedy, we have here the loss of two men, who were fathers to surviving children, and a grandfather," she said.

"The horror of this, I am clear in my mind, will have affected all of those who survive in a deep and painful way."

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