| Man hanged himself after misunderstanding ex-girlfriend's Facebook posts A coroner criticised modern forms of communication for complicating human relationships, as he heard how a man hanged himself after misunderstanding emails and Facebook posts from his ex-girlfriend. telegraph.co.uk |
Counting down Carol Vorderman on a lifetime with numbers bbc.co.uk |
Ministers agree MoD budget cuts The defence budget is expected to be cut by around 8% when Chancellor George Osborne announces his Spending Review next week. bbc.co.uk |
'Layabout' son found guilty of killing parents Daniel Dighton, 35, killed his retired teacher parents after an argument over his being hungoverA "layabout" son was facing jail today after being convicted of killing his parents in a row about him being hungover.Daniel Dighton, 35, stabbed his father Barry, a former headmaster, four times and his mother Elizabeth 28 times at the family home in Campden Road, south Croydon, south London, last September.Dighton was found guilty of their manslaughter by an 11-1 majority verdict and cleared of murder.The prosecution at the Old Bailey said Dighton just lost his temper but the jury accepted his claim that he was not responsible for his actions through diminished responsibility.Dighton was a fantasist who was a disappointment for his retired parents.Mr Dighton, 61, and his wife, who was 60, had both worked at the independent Elmhurst boys' prep school.Prosecutor Crispin Aylett, QC, said Daniel Dighton told "whopping lies" and spent his days loafing around the maisonette and his evenings drinking in the local pub.He said the Dightons returned home at lunchtime from a shopping trip "to find their layabout of a son still in bed and hungover. "A quarrel broke out. A routine argument quickly got out of hand."The defendant armed himself with two knives, stabbing both of his parents to death in an attack of terrible ferocity."After neighbours heard screams, police followed a trail of blood and found Dighton hiding in the loft wearing a Crystal Palace football shirt. His hands were still covered in blood.The living room was covered in blood with Mr Dighton in an armchair and his wife on the floor.PC Michael Matthews said Dighton told him: "It's just an argument that got out of hand. I don't normally lose my rag like that."A few minutes later, he had added: "I just wish I could turn back time."Dighton later told a psychologist that he lost control when his mother called him an idiot.As he attacked her, Mrs Dighton had shouted at him to stop. He said: "I shouted something back and she said, 'What are you doing Danny? I love you.'"Dighton had replied: "I know, I love you too."The Dightons were described as "perfect companions". After their deaths, staff and pupils paid tribute to them on a website.Daniel Dighton's elderly grandmother Olive said his parents spoiled him. They had "waited on him hand and foot".His father had also got him a job as a teaching assistant and a flat – but he was soon back home.He would drink up to 13 whiskies a night in the Folly pub, drinking with pals from 4pm until closing time, entertaining them with his stories, exaggerating the truth and telling lies.The regulars at the Folly thought he was a popular, intelligent man as well as being good company. No one realised he had struggled academically, was still living at home and was dependent on his parents.They helped him get a qualification for teaching English as a foreign language and soon he was telling his pals that he had a teaching job in Thailand.But it was not true and Dighton had to go through an elaborate charade, lying low at home and at the Dightons' second home in France. When he did "return" after a month, he plastered on fake tan – causing his mother to complain about her dirty sheets.He explained that his mother had died and he was attending her funeral. But when his friends went to pay their respects, they found no funeral and no wake.Dighton had been the beneficiary of his parents' wills.In the closing stages of his trial, Dighton was seen reading 1001 Ridiculous Ways to Die, an American book on "hilarious" and unusual deaths.Crimeguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Families call for the truth 38 years after Bloody Sunday On the edge of the Bogside in Londonderry stands a granite monument to the 14 men “murdered by British paratroopers on Bloody Sunday”. The simple signs at its foot proclaim: “Hope for Truth.” timesonline.co.uk |