SON BATTERED HIS OWN FATHER TO DEATH WITH HAMMER
A FORMER Huddersfield journalist was beaten to death by his own son in a “shocking and gruesome” attack.Winton Cooper, who worked for the Examiner for many years, was battered with a hammer by Joseph Cooper in the house they shared.
Joseph, 24, even broke the hammer handle in half as he used it, along with three kitchen knives and a pair of large secateurs, to inflict appalling injuries on Mr Cooper.
The 64-year-old was discovered by police at the cottage in the picturesque Dorset village of Marnhull, near Sturminster Newton, on April 15 last year.
Cooper pleaded guilty yesterday at Winchester Crown Court to manslaughter through diminished responsibility but denied murder.
The prosecution accepted his plea after reports found he was mentally ill.
Mr Cooper, who lived in Honley, worked in the news and features departments at the Examiner when it was based in Ramsden Street in the 1960s and 1970s.
He later went to work for BBC Radio Sheffield and was at the 1989 Hillsborough football tragedy where 96 Liverpool fans died.
He was killed on the 22nd anniversary of the disaster.
Stewart Jones QC, prosecuting, said Cooper junior had a troubled childhood at the hands of his father and mother, who had drink problems and Mr Cooper had been violent and abusive to his son.
His parents had acrimoniously split in the 90s, and Cooper was the middle of three brothers.
He spent his younger years in care and in trouble with the police after his father did not want him and his mother could not cope with him.
Mr Cooper moved to Dorset after his retirement to look after his elderly father, and eventually his son came to stay, with the pair living a “peaceable existence” in the village, revolving around going to the pub, local shops, and home.
But Cooper did attack his father in December 2009 with a bar and pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm, with the court being told that his father had barricaded himself into his room after his son “lost it”.
In April last year, Cooper launched the fatal attack on the landing of their home just hours after Winton Cooper had told neighbors his son “was acting strangely”.
After the killing, Cooper phoned his brothers and mother Gail to say he had killed his father.
All three were initially sceptical but eventually Mrs.
Cooper called the police, leading to the scene being described as “shocking and gruesome” by Mr.
Jones.
Officers found Mr.
Cooper in the hallway, naked except for socks, with the broken hammer, three bent knives, and secateurs beside him in a pool of blood, with terrible head injuries inflicted using severe force.
The only way to describe what happened to the back of Winton Cooper’s head was that he had been beaten in.
Officers retreated from the house and called in armed police, and Cooper was found nearby and arrested.
He claimed he acted in self-defense after his father attacked him with knives because he had made a noise, but forensic evidence contradicted this.
Two psychiatric reports identified that Cooper suffered from a mental abnormality that impaired his responsibility, leading to his plea of guilty to manslaughter through diminished responsibility.
Judge Guy Boney QC adjourned sentencing for a hospital assessment, with no mitigation entered on his behalf.
Winton Cooper was a well-known figure in Huddersfield for many years.
He worked as a news reporter and feature writer on the Examiner in the late 1960s and early 1970s, later moving to Sheffield and becoming a broadcaster on BBC Radio Sheffield.
Examiner columnist Denis Kilcommons described him as “brilliant company and a great raconteur,” noting his wit and humor.
Retired Examiner journalist Mike Shaw said he was “a very bright and diligent reporter.” His friends and colleagues recall him as highly regarded, with a great sense of humor.
Mr.
Cooper leaves behind two other sons, Oliver and Edward.
His ex-wife, Helen, still lives in Huddersfield.
