Man who murdered Dorset millionaire and tried to kill his own mother is doomed

The man who murdered Dorset millionaire Sir Richard Sutton has been sentenced.

Budding artist Thomas Schreiber has been jailed for life, serving at least 36 years in prison, for the “cruel and senseless” murder of aristocrat Sir Sutton and for crippling his own mother.

Thomas Schreiber was convicted after a three-week trial at Winchester Crown Court for the murder of the 83-year-old millionaire hotelier on his Dorset estate on April 7, 2021, and the attempted murder of Anne Schreiber, 66 years old.

You can read a full recap of the case here

The judge, Justice Garnham, told the accused: “Your actions have caused utter devastation in the Sutton and Schreiber families.”

He added: ‘You have treated Sir Richard’s house and property as if they belonged to you.

“You rewarded his generosity with ingratitude, rudeness and bad humor.

“You showed him or your mother no respect, instead while staying with them you showed a breathtaking sense of entitlement, sometimes you let Sir Richard feel like a prisoner in his own house. “

The 35-year-old defendant admitted to carrying out the “horror show” knife attack on the couple on the eighth anniversary of the death of his alcoholic father, David Schreiber, after saying his mother told him had shouted at him for being “drunk like his father”. ”.

He told the court: “I went completely mad, I broke down completely and just went for her and started attacking her uncontrollably.”

Sobs and shakes, Schreiber’s sister, Rose McCarthy, read her victim impact statement in court directly to the accused, saying, “You brought a knife into our world. In doing so, you kidnapped Richard, you kidnapped the most innocent and kindest men in the most brutal way. He never had a chance.

“You also killed our mother, you took her life and left her trapped in a body that she cannot use and is in constant pain.

“She can’t even wipe away her own tears. You destroyed everything, mom can’t even hold her own grandchildren, she can’t hug me.

As the accused cried in the dock, she added, “Tom, I love you but I fight so much against what you have done, what a waste of all these lives for a moment of anger.”

Their sister, Louisa Schreiber, added in her statement: “I miss my mother’s touch above all, it hurts when she asks me to put her arms around me.

“She is now very fragile, my children will never know the feel of my mother’s arms around them.”

As she said: “Where did it all go so wrong, I wonder, I am in disbelief that my own flesh and blood can do such a horrible thing, my little brother whom I adored is become a stranger to me “, the accused shouted:” I’m sorry. “

During a break from the proceedings, Schreiber, sobbing, spoke to his sisters from the dock, saying, “I’m so sorry, I really am, I love you.”

In a letter to the judge, the accused spoke of his “sincere shame and utter disgust” at his actions, and added: “All I wish is time travel until this day. terrible so that I could change everything and bring back Sir Richard and my mother came back to life.

Expressing his wish for asking for help with his mental health, he added, “I have been a coward, extremely arrogant and selfish in my behavior. I am so sorry for this and wish I had had the clarity of thought that I have now, I remain totally shocked and horrified that I could be capable of such actions.

He added, “These were not the actions of a demonic monster but someone who needed help and intervention.”

Sir Richard’s daughter Caroline Sutton said in a statement read to the court: “My father was the kindest and most generous man you have ever met.

She added: “His life was interrupted so abruptly and in such an unimaginably cruel way by an individual whom he has welcomed into his home as a member of his family for years.”

The victim’s son, Sir David Sutton, told the court: “It was a foolish act which took the life too soon of a generous, loving elderly man who only wanted to enjoy his twilight years.”

Problem in Gillingham

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

The trial heard that the defendant was angry with his mother for “abandoning” her father, who suffered from depression, to move in with Sir Richard and accused her of being a “b *** h researcher. gold “.

Schreiber, an aspiring painter, also felt that Sir Richard treated him unfairly compared to his two sisters despite receiving a monthly allowance of £ 1,000 and £ 100,000 towards the purchase of a house.

The court heard that family disputes had escalated into violence on three occasions, including once when Sir Richard hit the accused with his cane in November 2020, causing the cane to break and leaving Schreiber “humiliated”.

The accused accused the lockdown of worsening his sanity by forcing him to stay in the ‘toxic pressure boiler’ environment of Sir Richard’s estate.

And in March 2021, he wrote to a friend: “I am so sad to report that my mind is consumed with hatred of the worst kind towards my family.

“They really hurt me, betrayed me and destroyed all trust. Simply put, I plan to murder them morning and night. This is not what I want to think about but it is the truth. I want them to suffer.

Ms Schreiber – who listened to the sentencing proceedings via video link – suffered as many as 15 separate injuries, including head and body injuries, including a partially severed spinal cord that left her paralyzed.

Sir Richard, a father of two and a grandfather of five, suffered three deep wounds to the face and five to the chest, up to four inches deep.

Schreiber was also convicted of recklessly driving a Range Rover despite failing to stop for armed police in a 135 mph chase after the murder before being detained in central London where he was is stabbed in the chest and yelled for officers to shoot him.

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