‘Layabout’ son who stabbed his teacher parents to death can now spend the £1.5m he inherited from them when he is released from prison

A “camp” son who stabbed his teacher parents to death because they told him to get a job – and inherited their £1.5m fortune has been freed from prison.

Serial ‘liar’ Daniel Dighton, 35, stabbed former headteacher Barry, 61, and Elizabeth Dighton, 60, at the home they shared in Campden Road, South Croydon, on 30 September 2009.

Dighton was cleared of murdering the respected prep school teachers, but in 2010 an Old Bailey jury found him guilty of manslaughter by an 11-1 majority on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

He was told he would have to serve at least 15 years and would only be released if he was deemed no longer a danger.

MailOnline can reveal Dighton, now 49, has been recommended for release by the Parole Board in September 2023. It was his second parole hearing.

A Parole Board spokesman said: “We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board directed the release of Daniel Dighton following an oral hearing.

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“Parole board decisions focus solely on the risk an inmate might pose to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.

“A panel will scrutinize a wide range of evidence, including details of the original crime and any evidence of change in behaviour, as well as explore the harm done and the impact the crime has had on victims.

“Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports before an oral hearing.

“Evidence may be given at the hearing from witnesses such as probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison, as well as personal statements from the victim.

“It is standard for the prisoner and witnesses to be cross-examined at length during the hearing, which often lasts a full day or more.

“Parole reviews are conducted carefully and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed that Dighton had been released on license on 19 October 2023. He had served just 13 years in prison for the double murder plus some time on remand.

He will be subject to a number of restrictions, including living in approved housing and an approved list of people he can contact.

A spokesman for HM Prison and Probation Service said: “The decision to release Daniel Dighton was taken by the independent Parole Board following a thorough risk assessment. He is now subject to probation supervision and could be recalled to prison if he breaches the strict conditions of his licence.

The Evening Standard reported in April 2012 that Dighton would inherit his father’s £1.5m fortune as sole beneficiary as he was convicted of manslaughter and not murder.

Under criminal law, if he had been convicted of murder, he would have been automatically barred from the inheritance, but the lesser charge left the door open for him to claim the money when he was released from prison.

The Old Bailey was told that Dighton was a source of anxiety to his family because he “had no hand and spent his days loitering around the house and his nights drinking”.

His parents had to lock up his money to stop him taking it, the jury was told. After their murder, police found a note that read: “Please stop taking any of our drinks.”

Crispin Aylett QC, prosecuting, said Dighton was hungover on the day of the murders as he got home late after a drinking session which ended at a strip club.

His parents spent the last morning shopping, preparing for a family trip to their French holiday home in Normandy.

“They came back around lunchtime to find their son still in bed with a hangover,” Mr Aylett said.

“An argument broke out, probably the kind of argument you might expect to have with a teenager, much less a 35-year-old man.

“Arming himself with two knives, the defendant stabbed both his parents to death in a fit of brutal ferocity. He stabbed his father four times. His mother had by far the worst, she was stabbed over 20 times.

A neighbor heard her screams and called the police.

They found Mr. Dighton slumped in an armchair and Mrs. Dighton lying on the living room floor. They were both dead.

Dighton, an only child, was discovered in the attic finishing a cigarette.

Upon his arrest, Dighton reportedly said: “It’s just an argument that got out of hand. I don’t normally lose my cloth like this. I wish I could turn back time.

Dighton later told a psychologist that he lost control when his mother called him an idiot.

As he attacked her, Mrs Dighton had shouted at him to stop.

He said: “I shouted something in the back and she said ‘What are you doing Danny? I love you”.

The court heard he had lived with his parents all his life, apart from a short spell in a flat they bought him in an attempt to make him more independent.

Dighton got his first job as a care assistant at Elmhurst School for Boys in Croydon, South London, where his father was headmaster until he retired in 2006. He was promoted to teaching assistant but resigned in July 2009 after got a job in Thailand.

That job fell through and – unable to admit it to his friends at The Folly pub in Croydon – Dighton sent them messages claiming to be working abroad.

He returned four weeks later, claimed his mother had died and invited friends to her “funeral”.

They organized a collection for a wreath and drove to every church in the area in a doomed bid to attend the funeral, the court heard.

Later, Dighton met them at the Folly and told them that the funeral had gone off without incident.

He said he was returning to Thailand and a few days later sent a fake message to a friend, claiming it was “80 degrees and he went to see his girlfriend”. After two weeks, Dighton returned to the pub and told his friends that the job had not worked out.

To maintain the pretense of living abroad, he used fake bronze.

A prosecution psychiatrist described Dighton as a pathological liar. At no time did he tell his friends at the pub that he lived with his parents.

Judge Timothy Pontius told him: “This was a truly horrific act of savagery.

“Yours has always been a loving and close-knit family.

“Your parents were warm, generous and loving.”