Tree surgeon jailed for at least 26 years for gun murder he tried to pin on son

A man who pressured his 14-year-old son to take the blame for a murder he committed has been jailed for at least 26 years.

Tree surgeon Matthew Moseley, 50, shot Lee Holt, 32, dead before he handed the firearm to son Thomas and told him to tell police he was the one who pulled the trigger outside their home near Accrington, Lancashire, last October.

Thomas made the fake confession and his father stayed silent as the teenager was arrested and led away in handcuffs last October.

Lee Holt murder
Lee Holt murder

The teenager later changed his account of the incident in Barnard Close, Oswaldtwistle, and told police that his father was in fact the shooter but the defendant maintained his innocence.

Last week Moseley was found guilty of murder by a jury at Preston Crown Court following a three-week trial. On Tuesday at the same court he was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum term of 26 years.

Advertisement