A SON has been jailed for a minimum of 24 years after murdering his own father.

A jury this morning returned a guilty verdict following the trial of Daryl Sampson, who killed his father Robert Sampson in Crookbarrow Road, Norton, near Worcester, last November.

Sampson had pleaded not guilty to murder, claiming that he "lost control" when he stabbed his 63-year-old father through the heart with a hunting knife but did not intend to kill him.

But the jury at Birmingham Crown Court did not believe the 29-year-old's account.

They took 90 minutes this morning to reach a unanimous guilty verdict after retiring to consider their decision yesterday afternoon.

Sampson is due to be sentenced this afternoon.

During the trial, Sampson said he had no intention of killing his father and just “lost control” when they met.

He told the court he took a hunting knife to protect himself and frighten his father if things did turn violent.

Sampson said he was “terrified” of Robert Sampson who terrorised him as a child and threatened to smash his fingers with a hammer.

On November 16, Sampson had been driven by his sisters to Worcester from his flat in Walsall after taking around ten benzodiazepine tablets he had purchased illegally, cocaine and drinking three or four cans of cider. He arranged to meet his father in a bus stop in Crookbarrow Road.

Sampson returned to his mother’s home in Broomhall Cottages and fetched a hunting knife which he kept in his old bedroom before going out to meet his father.

After getting in his father's BMW, Sampson said he was dragged by his shoulder from the car parked in Crookbarrow Road before the pair argued and Robert Sampson punched his son in the throat.

After a scuffle, Sampson plunged the hunting knife through his father’s ribcage and punctured his heart.

Sampson walked away and returned a blood-covered mobile phone to his sister Danielle Thrower and said on her doorstep: “He’s dead, I’ve killed him.”

He returned to Crookbarrow Road and grabbed his father by the lapels and smashed his head against the floor before slapping him in the face.

Eyewitness Andrew Bradley said it was probably the most violent thing he had ever seen.

Sampson also called his fiancée, Renata Ocenasoua, and said: "I'm sorry. He punched me. We had a fight and I stabbed him.

"I'm sorry. I am not going to see you for a long time. I'm sorry. I love you."

Sampson had arranged to meet his dad at the bus stop so he could “lay everything out on the table” and discuss what he called their “toxic, abandoning relationship” after Mr Sampson had refused to pay for his son’s drug rehabilitation treatment in Thailand.

Mother Karon Thrower said her son had been doing well in Thailand but had deteriorated after receiving the rejection from his father.

A staff member at the rehabilitation centre had emailed to say he felt his dad, “had never been there.” The message added: “It has brought to the surface a lot of anger.”

Mr Sampson’s refusal to pay meant Sampson’s trip was cut short and he returned to England. Sampson was soon using heroin again.

The pair briefly met in March 2017 in Worcester where they hugged and went for a coffee. Mr Sampson later invited his son to his wedding in Italy.

Sampson did not attend the wedding and instead sent a drunken, expletive-laden WhatsApp message to Mr Sampson’s soon-to-be wife Deborah on the day of the wedding, saying he hoped his father would do the “decent thing and die alone.”

Sarah Horton, a custody nurse who examined Sampson at Worcester police station, told the court he said: “It is all his fault. I had full intention of killing him for what he has done to my mom. He beat her.

Mrs Horton said Sampson told her he had said: “I want this to be the last face you see” before slapping his father in the face.

He told the nurse he didn’t regret it and was “glad he was dead and got what he deserved.”

More to follow.