THE jury in the trial of a man accused of the murder of Sir Richard Sutton and paralysing his mother in a knife attack have been shown footage of armed police entering the millionaire hotelier's Dorset home.
Thomas Schreiber, of Gillingham, Dorset, is accused at Winchester Crown Court of the murder of the 83-year-old baronet and attempted murder of his mother Anne Schreiber, on April 7.
The 35-year-old has previously admitted the manslaughter of Sir Richard and pleaded guilty to driving a Range Rover dangerously on the A303, A4 and M3.
The attack happened at Sir Richard’s Moorhill estate near Gillingham, which he shared with the Schreiber family following the separation of the defendant’s parents.
Juliet Pentolfe, Sir Richard’s personal assistant for six years, said that on one occasion she walked in on the defendant angrily shouting at his mother.
She said: “Tom was shouting at his mother saying she was living with one of the wealthiest men in England and why couldn’t she get him to pay for things – I had thought Tom meant for himself.”
Ms Pentolfe said that Sir Richard owned an Aston Martin car and a Range Rover and added that he would keep the keys to the Aston Martin in his pocket, but the defendant would drive the Range Rover.
She said: “He was very irritated about his Range Rover being used because it was his car, it was Sir Richard’s car.”
She added: “He was not happy about Tom living at Moorhill, he was not happy because he was not contributing to living there.”
Ms Pentolfe said the defendant, who lived in an annexe at the Moorhill estate, referred to her as a “facilitator” for organising things for him including a trip to stay in a hotel and a visit to the races for him and his mother, paid for by Sir Richard.
The trial has heard that Thomas Schreiber had been upset with Sir Richard for only offering him £10,000 to buy a car which would not cover the cost of the vehicle he wished to buy.
Ms Pentolfe said: “Sir Richard said to me he thought Tom should have a van because Tom has started painting these enormous canvases and he thought a little van would accommodate the canvases.”
She added that Sir Richard paid the defendant a monthly allowance of £1,000 and had also given him £100,000 to buy a property.
The court has heard that Thomas Schreiber’s two sisters had received similar amounts.
Ms Pentolfe said that she saw the defendant at about 4.30pm on the day of the killing and said he appeared to be in a “good mood” before adding: “I thought he looked quite cheery, he was quite fresh looking.”
The jury was shown body-worn video footage of armed police officers arriving at Moorhill on the evening of the killing.
The officers are seen to smash the glass of a conservatory door before entering the kitchen area of the property where they found Ms Schreiber.
CGeorge Bryant said that he found Ms Schreiber with a “large laceration to the chest area and several small ones to the upper left side”.
He added that she had a cut to the face which exposed her jaw and he found “numerous” lacerations to her back.
The officer said: “Initially she was responding through blinking, I do not think she was aware of my presence.”
PC Bryant said the amount of blood lost meant that at first he thought Ms Schreiber had been shot “with bird shot from a shotgun”, but he later realised there were only knife wounds.
Ms Schreiber suffered up to 15 separate injuries including wounds to the back of her head, arm, chest as well as to her neck, shoulder and back, including a partial severing of the spinal cord, the court has heard.
PC Kane Ellafi told the court he was involved in detaining the defendant after his car was stopped in central London following a 135mph police chase.
Describing the defendant, he said: “He pulled out a knife and immediately turned it towards himself and plunged it in his chest and continued to stab himself a number of times.”
He said that a colleague then Tasered the defendant “to stop him from killing himself” after which Thomas Schreiber shouted: “Just kill me, I pay your wages, I ask you to kill me.”
Thomas Schreiber denies murder and attempted murder.
The trial continues.
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