Husband, 37, bludgeoned 4ft 9in Good Samaritan, 76, to death, court hears 

A husband bludgeoned a 4ft 9in Good Samaritan to death with her own walking stick as she tried in vain to stop him killing his wife while high on LSD outside his home, a court has heard. 

Sandy Seagrave, 76, intervened when she saw Daniel Appleton, 37 beating his wife Amy, 32, on the driveway of their detached suburban home in Crawley, West Sussex, just days before Christmas last year.

Seeing the attack the tiny 4′ 9′ pensioner, who happened to be walking past, crossed the road to remonstrate with him.

He turned on her and swore at her and then grabbed her walking stick from her and beat her death with it, Hove Crown Court heard.

Jurors then heard Appleton, who ran a garage business, then turned his attention back to his wife, Amy, who was trying to hide.

He approached her and beat her to death with the same walking stick he had used to kill Miss Seagrave.

He then went back into his house and tried to kill himself, stabbing himself at least five times in the chest with a large kitchen knife, cutting his neck and slashing his thighs in an attempt to cut the femoral arteries.

Both women were both pronounced dead at the scene but he was rushed to hospital and survived.

Today Appleton went on trial for the double murder which happened just days before Christmas last year.

Dressed in a purple shirt and dark trousers, he admits killing the women but denies murder, claiming it was the result of a psychotic episode.

However prosecutors claim Appleton had taken a synthetic form of LSD and was high when he launched the attacks.

Hove Crown Court heard that an interview with a psychiatrist Appleton admitted having taken magic mushrooms – a natural hallucinogen – years before.

However forensic searches of his mobile phone found that just 11 days before the killings he had searched for ‘worse mushrooms, worse mushrooms trip, bad mushrooms trip stories and strongest mushrooms’.

Nick Corsellis QC, prosecuting, said hair samples and nail clippings taken from the defendant showed the presence of 25i-NBOMe – a highly potent synthetic version of LSD- and mephedrone.

Experts believe both drugs could have been responsible for his violent psychotic behaviour and may have been present at the time of the attacks on Sunday December 22 last year.

Mr Corsellis told the jury: ‘Mr Appleton was experiencing a psychotic episode. The key question for you in this trial is: was his mental state due to the use of illegal drugs or was it as a result of a temporary mental (psychotic) breakdown which the defendant is blameless for?

‘This is not a case where the defendant has had any previous reports or diagnosis of mental illness or alcohol issues.’

He said: ‘The defendant accepts he was responsible for the death of his wife and for that of a passerby who he had never met.’ 

Hove Crown Court heard Appleton and his wife, Amy, had met 13 years previously and had married in 2018 and had only recently returned from a belated honeymoon.

Appleton, who ran a garage business, and his wife, who was a teacher at the nearby Copthorn Junior School, did not have children and were said to be happy together.

At 10.15am on Sunday December 22, 2019 neighbours heard an almighty row breaking out between the couple.

Ivonne Greenwell, who lived next door, heard Appleton shouting: ‘I’ve had f****ing enough of this! I’m f***ing done with this!’

She thought about calling the police but when she heard him shout ‘I could murder you!’ she immediately dialled 999, the court heard.

As she was on the phone she looked out of the window and saw the defendant walking down his driveway dressed only a pair of boxer shorts with ‘his chest puffed out and arms slightly raised to his side’, jurors were told.

Mr Corsellis said: ‘At the same time she saw an elderly lady – Sandra Seagrave – walking with a walking stick/crutch. She crossed over to the defendant and she saw her say words like ”How dare you!” to him.’

The court heard Sandra Seagrave was ‘old school and quite set in her ways and someone who if she disagreed with you, would tell you so.’

Mrs Greenwell saw him push the pensioner over and screamed through her window to the defendant saying: ‘Dan don’t do it, stop it.’

But he lifted the walking stick above his head and repeatedly brought it down on the pensioner’s head, the court heard.

Janet Spragg, who lived nearby and was out running with her dog, witnessed the attack and shouted ‘No’ as he pushed the old woman over.

She described him as ‘possessed’ and said he was ‘on a mission, as if nothing was going to get in his way’. 

The court heard Amy Appleton was lying close to the Audi TT car on her driveway and had suffered a bad injury to the back of her head.

As neighbours rushed to assist her Appleton re-emerged from the house naked and shouted: ‘Oh you didn’t think my c**k’s like this did you?’

He then turned to Gary Wigzell, who was attending to an unresponsive Mrs Appleton, saying: ‘That’s my wife Amy – I killed her.’

Neighbour Susan Kipps described Appleton as being ‘on another planet, like he had lost the plot.’

The trial continues.