Murdering beekeeper gets caught out by honey trap

An Australian court has convicted a beekeeper who murdered a rival to get his hands on his supply but had his cover blown after getting trapped under a 3,000lb tub of honey.

Police photographs of the scene of Donald Alcock's accident revealed markings on the tubs that identified them as the property of Anthony Knight. Mr Knight's body had been found at his home in rural Queensland.

Brisbane Supreme Court heard that Mr Alcock, who was in desperate financial straits, entered his victim's home and shot him in the back with a hunting rifle while he was sleeping. Mr Alcock, who pleaded not guilty, told police that he had not intended to kill his victim. But he was prepared to do whatever it took to secure the lucrative tubs, worth a total of A$40,000 (£19,000). "If Tony was home, I was going to have to maim or hurt him bad if I was going to knock off the honey," he admitted.

The jury, which took less than a day to convict Mr Alcock of murder, heard that he loaded the honey tubs on to his truck and drove them to a major honey distributor. It was there, while unloading, that he became pinned under one massive tub. Mr Alcock will serve a minimum of 15 years in jail.