A man whose dad died days after Christmas, has appeared at the Old Bailey accused of his father’s murder.
Larry Chaters was taken to hospital with four broken ribs and a collapsed lung on Friday, December 27. The 68-year-old dad died from his injuries and pneumonia on Thursday, January 2 at King’s College Hospital in south London. On the same day, his son Craig Chaters, 37, attended a police station and was arrested. He was subsequently charged with his father’s murder and appeared at the Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing this morning.
Prosecutor Nicholas Hearn said the allegation against the defendant concerned “a violent attack on his vulnerable father which caused significant injuries which ultimately led to his death”.
He said: ‘His son the defendant told ambulance service staff his father had suffered a fall downstairs.”
The defendant wept throughout the hearing which he attended by videolink from Thameside prison. Judge Philip Katz KC set a plea hearing for March 26, and a provisional two-week trial has been pencilled in from October 20.
He also ordered a pre-trial hearing to take place at the Old Bailey on October 10. The judge remanded Chaters into custody.