Tree surgeon who shot dead man on doorstep and tried to pin blame on his own 14-year-old SON found guilty
Moseley, 50, handed the shotgun to his son and told him: "Tell them you have done it because you can't get done for it"
A TREE surgeon who tried to pin the blame for a fatal doorstep shooting on his 14-year-old son has been convicted of murder.
Matthew Moseley, 50, opened his front door and gunned down Lee Holt, 32, before he handed the shotgun to son Thomas and told him: "Tell them you have done it because you can't get done for it."
Out of love and loyalty to his father, the teenager then made a fake confession to police when they arrived at the family home near Accrington, Lancashire, on October 25 last year.
Thomas was arrested and when led away in handcuffs he said to his father: "I'm sorry dad. I'm really sorry."
The teenager decided to tell the truth when interviewed by police, Preston Crown Court heard.
He told officers: "I thought I was covering my dad's arse. Sticking up for him."
He continued: "He is my dad. I love him to bits but you would think he would take responsibility for what he has done and not let his son take the blame for him."
The defendant claimed the shooting was an accident after he grabbed the semi-automatic Beretta weapon from his son to try to lift it upwards and the gun "just went off".
Jurors heard, though, that initially Moseley told police he did not know who shot Mr Holt and never mentioned in nine subsequent interviews in custody that his hand was on the firearm when it was discharged in Barnard Close, Oswaldtwistle.
Prosecutor Robert O'Sullivan QC accused Moseley of inventing his account after waiting for the evidence to be served against him following his charge for murder.
Mr Holt went to Barnard Close with his partner, Kate Phelan, 34, and her 15-year-son, Wesley Metcalfe, to confront Thomas over an ongoing dispute between the schoolboys.
Witnesses said Ms Phelan banged on the front windows and Mr Holt kicked the front door as they shouted for the Moseleys to come out.
Thomas Moseley said he then saw his father - a keen clay pigeon shooter - bend down on one knee and take out one of his licensed guns from a cabinet next to the porch and load it with three cartridges.
His father told him to ring the police, he said, and 11 seconds into the 999 call Mr Holt was shot once in the chest and died in hospital later the same evening.
From that point onwards the defendant sought to manipulate his son into falsely taking the blame for the shooting, said the Crown.
In a covert recording of a prison van conversation, Matthew Moseley can be heard telling his son: "You are a minor. You can't go to any jail.
"Self defence for you and you didn't know what you were doing. Me, different ball game. And that is the way we have got to go with this."
Giving evidence in the three-week trial, Matthew Moseley denied he had asked his son to say anything on his his behalf.
He said the Beretta shotgun had been left out for cleaning and he saw his son with three cartridges in his hand amid the commotion outside.
He then claimed he made his intervention at the front door when Thomas aimed the weapon at Mr Holt.
The jury rejected Matthew Moseley's account and unanimously found him guilty after they deliberated for just under three hours and 20 minutes and is due to be sentenced on Tuesday morning.
In a statement, Mr Holt's mother, Marilyn Holt, said: "Lee was my son and I loved him dearly."
She continued: "Nobody should lose one of their children. But they certainly shouldn't be lost in these circumstances, gunned down on a doorstep in a quiet residential street.
"I'm not sure how the family will ever recover from this. Instead of having Lee the son, Lee the father and Lee the brother, we now only have our memories.
"He will never walk his daughters down the aisle. He will never meet his own grandchildren. Lee deserved so much more."
Following the verdict, senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Jill Johnston of Lancashire Police said: "Matthew Moseley has shown no remorse for his actions and instead allowed his own son, a 14-year-old boy, to go through the ordeal of being arrested and questioned by the police, for something which all along he knew he had done.
"If that wasn't wicked enough, he then also pressurised the boy to take responsibility for a crime that he hadn't committed and told the court during the trial that he was innocent and that the boy had fired the fatal shot."
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She added: "Moseley was a licensed firearm holder and should have known how dangerous these kinds of weapons are in the wrong hands. Instead, in the heat of an altercation he used one of them to take a man's life needlessly - all over a silly ongoing dispute between two boys.
"The impact of what all of the people at that front door witnessed, from both sides of the disagreement, cannot be underestimated. In some way, each and every one of their lives will have been hugely affected.
"I would like to thank the jury for their careful consideration and hope that today's result provides some comfort to Lee Holt's family."
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