Accident 'made man kill father'

A judge was yesterday asked to award damages to a man whose severe mental breakdown drove him to kill his father with a pick-axe handle.

John Walker, 46, Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, who admitted manslaughter due to diminished responsibility and was put on probation, blames his illness and its consequences on a boating accident in 1987 in which his cabin cruiser capsized in the wash from a speedboat. He is suing the speedboat's part-owner and a passenger for pounds 300,000. The hearing continues.