Son gets life for killing parents

A "layabout" son was jailed indefinitely for public protection yesterday for the manslaughter of his retired teacher parents.

Daniel Dighton, 35, was told he would have to serve a minimum of 15 years and would only be released if it was thought he was no longer a danger.

He was cleared of murdering Barry, 61, and Elizabeth Dighton, 60, but the Old Bailey jury found him guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The court was told he attacked his parents with two knives at the family home in south London in September last year, after his parents returned from a shopping trip to find him still in bed and hungover. A doctor told the court he may have been suffering from an acute stress reaction.