Colin McSweeny died at a high-security prison it has now been revealed after trying to dispose of the body in the River Thames
A former fireman who bludgeoned his adopted son to death with a scaffolding pole has died in prison, according to the prisons watchdog. Colin McSweeny, 68 from Croydon, murdered 24-year-old Shaun McSweeny in November 2014 in a row of the custody of his granddaughter, then aged five. McSweeny, of Parry Road in Thornton Heath, then tried to dispose of the body in the River Thames.
At the Old Bailey in 2015, McSweeny was found guilty and jailed for life with a minimum of 14-and-a-half years. The trial heard Shaun revealed he wanted to leave the property he shared with them, but they were concerned about the safety of his daughter if she went with him. McSweeny said they argued in the garage and his son turned around holding golf clubs and shouting at him.
“I [thought I] was going to be killed,” he told the Old Bailey, “I just struck him. I heard his last words were ‘oh lord’ then he fell to the floor.” McSweeny said he washed his son’s face and spent the evening in his house with a police officer friend who had been invited to celebrate his wife’s 60th birthday.
Later that night, he bundled Shaun’s body into the boot of his car and drove to Deptford Wharf where he was seen trying to lift his body over a wall and into the River Thames. After deciding against it, he was chased by police and officers uncovered Shaun’s body lying on a heavily-bloodstained tarpaulin in the boot.
The Prisons and Probations Ombudsman said McSweeny died at HMP Gartree, a high-security prison in Leicestershire, on September 23 2024. The Ombudsman will reveal the cause of death and any concerns about the prison’s handling of the case when a full report is released.
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