Son admits father's 'bin murder'

Benjamin Holding murdered his father at the family home

A son has admitted murdering his 70-year-old father and dumping his body in a bin, before spending his money.

Benjamin Holding, 29, an STV business development executive, attacked his father Michael at Inchmarlo, Banchory.

Holding admitted murdering his father by throwing him to the floor and hitting his head in October last year.

He also admitted charges of fraud and attempting to defeat the ends of justice. Sentence was deferred at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The court heard that Holding pushed the retired oil executive to the ground, then repeatedly bashed his head against the floor and a metal cat food bowl.

His lies and scheming were beginning to unravel and in the end caught up with him Det Insp Matt Mackay Grampian Police

Holding then tried to cover up the murder by wrapping the body in a sheet and dumping it head-first in a wheelie bin at their home, where it lay for seven weeks.

Holding then set about spending £7,000 on his dead father's credit cards and bought a £17,000 car, later claiming he had been "spending his rightful inheritance".

He also sent false e-mails pretending to be his father and claiming he was elsewhere in the UK.

Holding, who was in financial difficulties, claimed he had been driven to the killing by his "domineering" father who he said viewed him as a failure.

The court was told Holding and his wife Sarah had been living with Mr Holding snr for some months because Holding had been unable to get a mortgage on a home because of his poor credit history.

Basically spoiled

In the weeks leading up to the killing, Holding lied to his wife and father, telling them he had successfully bought a house for the couple to move into.

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Background to the case

On the day of the murder, 13 October last year, Holding told his wife there had been a problem with the house purchase and agreed to tell his father they would need to stay on.

He returned to the home and got into an argument with him, before knocking him to the ground and hitting his head against the floor and the bowl.

Realising his father was dead, Holding wrapped the body and placed it in a wheelie bin, hiding the bin under tarpaulin and a bag of cement in a locked shed at the house. He then destroyed evidence by washing clothes and cleaning out the utility room where Mr Holding snr died.

Donald Findlay QC, defending, said: "There was absolutely no reason to consider that he would be someone that might become involved in a crime of such violence.

His lies and scheming were beginning to unravel and in the end caught up with him Det Insp Matt Mackay Grampian Police

"He has always accepted what he did, he has always accepted full responsibility for his father's death."

Judge Roger Craik QC said: "You have pleaded guilty to a dreadful matter, I'm quite sure that you realise that.

"Given the nature of your plea there is only one sentence open to the court."

Sentence was deferred until 21 August.

Stephen Holding, Mr Holding snr's son from a previous marriage, said he believed his half-brother should be jailed for life.

"Ben was just basically spoiled," said Mr Holding.

"He had so much he didn't know what to do and he wanted more and he put my father in the bin. You wouldn't do that to a cat. He should get life for a life."

'Loved him'

Grampian Police Det Insp Matt Mackay said: "On the surface, Ben Holding appears to be a clean cut and professional young man.

"But behind that plausible exterior was a skilful and accomplished liar who manipulated and controlled his nearest and dearest for his own financial gratification."

The officer said: "But his lies and scheming were beginning to unravel and in the end caught up with him.

"The house which his wife and father believed he had purchased simply did not exist and he was coming under increasing pressure to provide a home for his wife.

"Ben Holding's father had clearly loved him and supported him over many years, but those feelings were not reciprocated. Ultimately, he used his father purely as a source of cash. Within hours of killing his father, he was using his bank accounts."