A SON has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 24 years after being found guilty of murdering his father.

Daryl Sampson, 29, used a hunting knife to stab his dad Robert Sampson in the ribcage, puncturing his heart, near a bus stop in Crookbarrow Road in Norton, near Worcester, on November 16 last year.

Sampson had denied murder, claiming that he "lost control" when he stabbed his father but did not intend to kill him, and that he'd only taken the knife to the meeting with his dad because he feared being attacked.

But a jury unanimously found him guilty yesterday morning, and he was then sentenced in the afternoon.

High Court Judge Sir Akhlaq Ur-Rahman Choudhury told Sampson when sentencing him that he had taken the hunting knife to the meeting with his father when his “resentment and hatred had reached a peak” with the full intention of using the weapon.

Sampson had arranged to meet his 63-year-old dad at the bus stop so he could discuss what he called their “toxic, abandoning relationship”.

“You decided to have it out with him once and for all,” the judge said. “Instead of going straight to meeting him you asked to be taken to your mother’s house so you could retrieve the hunting knife.

“You have claimed you feared serious violence but he had not showed any violence towards you in over a decade.”

Judge Choudhury said Sampson blamed his father for his heroin addiction and for not paying for him to have a longer stay at a drug rehab centre in Thailand.

“The treatment was expensive and Robert Sampson did not contribute and it seemed you resented him for that,” the judge said.

Judge Choudhury called Robert Sampson punching his son in the face in 2004 and hitting him on the back of the head when he was five-years-old “isolated” incidents.

“They could not possibly have caused you to fear for your life in the way you have suggested,” he said to Sampson. “I am quite satisfied that you took the knife on that night with the intention of using it.”

He added: “It is quite clear that you did not lose your self-control. You were quite prepared to do him harm."

Judge Choudhury said Sampson’s intention was clear when he returned to his father’s body and slammed his head against the ground and slapped his face.

“Instead of calling for help you continued your attack," he said. “You said to him ‘you deserve everything you get’ and ‘I hope this is the last face you ever see’.

“Even if he did strike you first, there is no justification for the viciousness and brutality of the attack.”

Judge Choudbury said Sampson had shown no remorse after stabbing his father and none since.

“You are only sorry for the consequences for yourself,” he said.

Robert Sampson's wife, Deborah, made a statement about the pain caused by the loss of her husband, which was read out by prosecutor Tahir Khan QC during the sentencing.

She said: “Ever since Daryl killed my husband my life has changed in so many ways.”

Mrs Sampson said she had not been able to red meat since his death as it reminded her too much of flesh.

“I now have a widow’s pension which is unbelievable,” she said.

“I hope Daryl feels some remorse for what he did to his dad and for what he has put everyone through.

“I know nothing can change anything even if he apologises, and our lives have been changed forever.

“The fact that Daryl has pleaded not guilty to the murder and put us through a trial has caused everyone more pain and stress and has scarred us for life.

“I used to think that you could trust people but what has happened makes me think that nobody can be trusted.”

Murder with the use of a knife carries a life sentence with a minimum of 25 years.

Judge Choudhury reduced the 25 year minimum sentence by one year because he felt that, whilst the attack was planned, it was done so “at the last minute”.