A man murdered his dad days before his 80th birthday in an unprovoked attack.
David Lavender drank heavily before battering his father with a glass kettle last December and fleeing their Old Swan home. A judge said Anthony Lavender’s death at the hands of his son was “a tragedy beyond words” as he sentenced the 37-year-old to life in prison this morning.
Gordon Cole, QC, prosecuting, said Lavender had been living at his dad’s Woodhall Street home since returning from London during the covid pandemic. He said there was sometimes tension between the two but that there was little to suggest Lavender would be violent towards his dad.
