Daniel Appleton 'beat pensioner and wife to death with walking stick'

Sandy Seagrave and Amy Appleton died from head injuries

A man beat an elderly woman to death with her own walking stick before using it to kill his wife, a court has heard.

Daniel Appleton killed 76-year-old Sandy Seagrave and his wife Amy, 32, outside a house in Crawley Down, West Sussex, on 22 December, Hove Crown Court was told.

Prosecutor Nicholas Corsellis QC said Mr Appleton was suffering a "psychotic episode" at the time.

The 38-year-old, of Hazel Way, Crawley Down, denies murdering them.

Jurors heard Mr Appleton chased his wife out of their home and attacked her on their driveway.

Ms Seagrave, who was passing by, saw what was happening and tried to intervene.

But Mr Appleton turned his aggression towards the pensioner and murdered her with her own walking stick, Mr Corsellis said.

He then returned to his schoolteacher wife and bludgeoned her to death with it, the court was told.

The violence erupted just days before Christmas in the West Sussex village

Before the attack, neighbour Ivonne Greenwell heard shouting and screaming inside the Appletons' home - including Mr Appleton shouting "I could murder you", jurors were told.

Ms Greenwell dialled 999 and looked out of her window to see Mr Appleton on his driveway.

Ms Seagrave walked over and gestured towards him with her stick before he grabbed it and repeatedly struck her with full force, the prosecutor said.

Ms Appleton's body was also seen on the driveway after she was attacked.

The court heard a witness who went to tend to Ms Appleton was confronted by the defendant who said: "I know I've killed my wife and I know I'm going to prison."

After the attack, Mr Appleton then went back into his home and tried to take his own life "in the most determined of ways", Mr Corsellis said.

However, emergency services were able to save him and he was eventually charged with the murders.

Mr Appleton had no history of criminality or violence but had been experiencing a "psychotic episode", Mr Corsellis told the court.

He added: "The key question in this trial is: was his mental state due to the use of illegal drugs or the result of a temporary mental psychotic breakdown which [he] is blameless for?"

Samples of Mr Appleton's hair and nail clippings revealed traces of a psychoactive substance similar to LSD.

Mr Corsellis said: "The defendant accepts he was responsible...This is not a case of what happened, who did it, but a question of why and the lead up to."

The trial continues.

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