A son who killed his elderly dad just days before his 80th birthday has been jailed for life.
David Lavender attacked 79-year-old Anthony Lavender at the home they shared on December 29 2021.
Police were called to Mr Lavender’s home just before midnight and discovered the pensioner with a serious head injury.
Paramedics rushed to the scene and tried hard to save his life by performing CPR, but Mr Lavender died at the scene. His 37-year-old son was later arrested and charged with murder.
The digital marketing specialist accepted responsibility for causing his father’s injuries at a court hearing at the start of February. However, he was yet to enter a formal plea to the charge of murder, according to Liverpool Echo.
Liverpool Crown Court was told at the time that psychiatrists would have to evaluate whether he was fit to enter a plea and whether he might potentially have a partial defence of diminished responsibility. However, at a hearing this afternoon, Lavender pleaded guilty to the charge.
As several family members watched on from the public gallery, emotionless Lavender, from Old Swan, Liverpool spoke only to enter his plea. He then sat in silence in the dock for the remainder of the hearing.
Michael O’Brien, defending, said discussions had taken place this morning up until lunchtime with his client, before he gave instructions that he wished to plead guilty. Mr O’Brien and Gordon Cole, QC, prosecuting, said they would both provide submissions on sentencing guidelines ahead of sentencing.
Judge Neil Flewitt, QC, said a provisional murder trial, listed for June 27 this year, would be vacated. He said Lavender would be sentenced on May 11 and remanded him in custody until that date.
The judge told the killer: “As you know there is only one sentence that will follow, that is a sentence of life imprisonment. I will have to set a minimum term and that term will depend on what I hear in the sentencing hearing.”
Mr Lavender’s family previously paid tribute to him on Wednesday, January 5, on what would have been his 80th birthday.
They said: “Tony, our beloved brother and uncle, should have celebrated his 80th birthday today, but tragically, it was not to be. Tony was a kind and generous man who lived his life to the full and will be missed by all those who knew him.
“As a family, we would like to extend our thanks to the officers and paramedics who tried to save Tony, and to say thank you to his friends and neighbours for their beautiful words and the floral tributes left for him. We will make sure that Tony is not forgotten.”
Mr Lavender’s family have asked for privacy as they grieve for their loss.
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