A former regional press journalist was beaten to death by his son in a “shocking and gruesome” attack, a court was told.

Howard Winton Cooper, who was known as Winton, was battered to death with a hammer at the country cottage in Dorset he shared with his son Joseph Cooper, Winchester Crown Court was told today.

Cooper, 24, admitted manslaughter through diminished responsibility but denied murder and the prosecution accepted his plea after reports found he was mentally ill.

64-year-old Winton had worked at the Barnsley Chronicle before moving to work as a news reporter and feature writer at the Huddersfield Examiner in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

He also worked at Newcastle daily the Evening Chronicle in the mid-1980s, later becoming a well-known broadcaster at BBC Radio Sheffield.

Winton’s body was discovered by police at the cottage in the village of Marnhull, near Sturminster Newton, on 15 April last year. 

The court was told he was found with appalling injuries which Cooper had inflicted using the hammer, along with three kitchen knives and a pair of large secateurs.

Stewart Jones QC, prosecuting, said Cooper junior had a troubled childhood at the hands of his parents, with his father being violent and abusive to his son.

His parents had acrimoniously split in the 90s and Cooper was the middle of three brothers, spending his younger years in care and in trouble with the police after his father did not want him and his mother could not cope with him, the barrister said.

Winton moved to Dorset after his retirement to look after his elderly father and eventually his son came to stay.

Psychiatric reports found that Cooper suffered from such an abnormality of mind that it had impaired his responsibility for his actions.

Judge Guy Boney QC adjourned sentencing to a later date, which has not been fixed yet, so that Cooper can undergo a hospital assessment.

During his time at BBC Radio Sheffield, Winton covered the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, when the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest saw 96 people lose their lives.