THE trial of a man accused of shooting dead his parents at their Sale home began today.


Stephen Seddon is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder.


The attempted murder charge relates to an incident some months before, in which his parents and nephew had to be rescued from the Bridgewater Canal, in Timperley, after a hire car driven by Seddon plunged into the water.


A jury was sworn in at Manchester Crown Court and was told the trial is expected to last up to six weeks.


Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, laid out his case that Seddon, who is known as Nic, murdered his parents Bob, 68, and Patricia, 65, whose bodies were found at their house on Clough Avenue on July 6 last year.


Mr Wright said they had been shot at close range with a sawn off shotgun, police found Mrs Seddon’s body in the hall, while her husband was discovered lying on the sofa in the living room.


Mr Wright alleged that Seddon had tried to frame his father and make it appear as if he had shot his wife, before turning the gun on himself.


“In the immediate aftermath of shooting this relatively elderly couple, the killer had placed the shotgun in the lap of Robert Seddon, taking Robert Seddon’s right hand and placing it on the weapon.”


Mr Wright also alleged that while Seddon was praised as a hero for saving his family from drowning, the defendant had applied ‘poetic licence’ when accounting numerous and differing versions of what took place on March 20.


Mr Wright also asked jurors to consider why a man who owned a car and had been seen to be driving it earlier that day, had chosen to hire a car to take his parents to a belated Mother’s Day meal.


The trial continues.