A painter accused of murdering one of Britain’s richest men blamed the lockdown on his frenzied mental state and said he crippled his mother in a knife attack because she said that he was “a drunkard like his late father”.

Thomas Schreiber, of Gillingham, Dorset, is on trial at Winchester Crown Court on charges of the murder of Sir Richard Sutton, 83, and the attempted murder of his mother, Anne Schreiber, on April 7, 2021.

The 35-year-old has already admitted manslaughter of Sir Richard – his mother’s partner – and has pleaded guilty to dangerously driving a Range Rover on the A303, A4 and M3.

The attack occurred at Sir Richard’s Moorhill estate near Gillingham, Dorset, which he shared with the Schreiber family after the parents of the accused separated.

Schreiber said he had a “fantastic” relationship with his father, David, who worked as a translator, but admitted it could be “very dramatic,” like shooting a shotgun in front of their house.

The defendant, who described himself as a “passionate” artist, said his father was a functional alcoholic before the divorce before his depression and addiction worsened until his death on April 7, 2013.

Schreiber said he had become “confused and unhappy” with his parents’ separation and described the process of transferring family assets to Moorhill from the family cottage where his father remained alive as “hell”.

He said: “It was excruciating to watch him, it was chaos, we were coming and going to the house to pick up family belongings and daddy was there in tears very upset.”

Describing the impact of his father’s death, he said: “I was devastated, I felt incredibly guilty and very ashamed. I felt we had let dad down as a family unit who was there to help. support each other.

He said the anniversary of his father’s death – in which the fatal attack occurred – was “for me personally very important, I always had a celebratory drink and sent a message to the siblings carrying daddy’s toast wherever I am in the world ”.

Schreiber said on the day of the attack he went to visit his father’s grave and spent the afternoon painting before chatting with Sir Richard as they remembered his father, before his mother does not return having also visited the tomb.

The attack occurred at Sir Richard’s Moorhill estate near Gillingham, Dorset, which he shared with the Schreiber family after the parents of the accused separated

He said: ‘Richard and I were sitting peacefully in the office, mum walked in, she glanced at me and said,’ You are drunk, just like your father ‘.

“I suggested before that we go for a drink to celebrate daddy’s memory, I didn’t even answer and said, ‘You’re drunk, just like your dad.’

“I shouted ‘I’m not drunk’ and then she ran into the kitchen and I ran after her and hit her on the arm or on the back.

“There was a knife on the island and I went completely crazy and saw the knife and the voice in my head was screaming, ‘Attack, attack’, I took the knife and started to stab my mother.

“Richard came in and I think he tried to stop me and I started stabbing him and I just couldn’t stop attacking my mom and Richard.

“My mom yelled at one point, ‘Do you want to stop, are you going to stop? And I couldn’t stop. “

He described how he continued to “back and forth” between the two, stabbing them.

When asked why he attacked his mother, Schreiber said, “My mother knew it was Daddy’s birthday and she said it was a very taboo subject to talk about daddy in the household.

‘When mum said that I went completely crazy, I wasn’t drunk and I wasn’t drunk like my dad and after she said I couldn’t physically stop what I was doing and I didn’t didn’t know what i was doing, but what i was doing was horrible.

Jury saw footage released by Metropolitan Police of Schreiber being chased at 135 mph before armed police seized him

He added: “I was very sensitive, I’m a very sensitive man and when it comes to daddy I’m extra, extra sensitive.

“It was very accusing anger when she said what she said, and I completely lost her and went completely crazy.”

Schreiber, who said he had 35 sales jobs since he was 18, said he “had never been close” to Sir Richard but was grateful for the gift “incredibly” generous of her share of £ 100,000 in 2015 to go towards a property also as a monthly living allowance of £ 1,000.

He described how the family arguments escalated into violence, including in the summer of 2019 when he pulled his mother’s hair and hit her in the car after she called him a ‘leech f * ***** “.

And the accused said he was ‘traumatized’ by Sir Richard hitting him with his cane – which broke in the incident – during a family dispute in November 2020 which took place for find out if her sister, Louisa, should be allowed to have a chandelier for her house.

He said this had led him to shut down as his relationship with the rest of the family had hit “bottom-bottom”.

Schreiber said lockdown rules in early 2020 worsened his mental health, he had previously suffered from depression while living in Australia following the “love of his life” breakup.

Schreiber (right) with his lawyer, Joe Stone QC appearing at Winchester Crown Court

He said, “I was really struggling, every day was a continual struggle, suicidal thoughts morning and night,” What’s the point in continuing? My family hates me, I’m a failure like my dad and everything is horrible.

“Before the lockdown, I deny a lot of negative emotions and a lot of sadness going to see friends, going to an art gallery, traveling. The lockdown put a magnifying glass on my sanity and brought it to light.

“It had a negative impact on my mental health as the possibility of getting out of myself and the house became less and less possible in my mind due to the restrictions in place.

“I had booked flights to go skiing in Italy, I had flights booked to Berlin, I had flights booked to Panama, it was all shut down, life at home was really a pressure cooker and it ‘just got worse and worse. “

He said he had researched the internet about his mental health and added: “I was having trouble controlling my own thoughts, it was a distraction and it wasn’t welcome, I didn’t want to of these thoughts in my head and I wanted them to stop. ‘

Schreiber denies the murder and the attempted murder and the trial continues.