Dr Jason Waite is on trial accused of pushing his step father Peter Skilton to the ground resulting in his death with the pair embroiled in a long-running legal battle
A doctor allegedly pushed the elderly step-father he “hated” to the ground resulting in his death amid a dispute over a rented cottage, a court has heard.
Dr Jason Waite, 54, was involved in a long-running legal battle over his mother’s estate in Snitterby, Lincolnshire, which is valued at more than £5million. Peter Skilton was pushed to the ground and “knocked out cold” and didn’t recover from his head injury.
The ongoing inheritance battle over Mr Waite’s mum Eileen Skilton’s fortune begun in 2018 when she died aged 74. Dr Waite was originally charged with grievous bodily harm following the incident on December 17 2024, but the charge was upgraded to murder after the man died two days later.
Jurors were told that the cottage was rented out by Mr Skilton, after it had been left to him by his second wife. An ‘expensive’ legal battle was launched following the death of woman, which culminated in a High Court judgement ten days before Mr Skilton died last year.
Pavlos Panayi KC, prosecuting, claims Dr Waite took Mr Skilton by his jacket after the older man grabbed one of the chairs he was carrying.
He then pushed him back on gravel drive towards a concrete area and he was then airlifted to hospital. Anthony and Pamela Tootell, the tenants of the cottage, both witnessed the incident.
“They each say the defendant threw him to the floor,” Mr Panayi said. “Unsurprisingly when Peter Skilton’s head struck the ground he received a serious injury.
“Peter Skilton was immediately knocked out cold. The brain began to swell and when an air ambulance arrived paramedics placed him in an induced coma.”
The court was then told Mr Waite sat “calmly” on one of the chairs he removed from the cottage as paramedics battled to save his step father outside the property. A post mortem weeks later found that the man died from brain injuries, consistent with hitting his head on the ground.
The jury heard pathologist Dr Michael Biggs explain that the brain injury was so severe that it “would have killed a fitter, younger man”.
Mr Panayi told jurors Dr Waite later explained that he was in shock, and that was the reason why he did not try to intervene as he “had no medical training”.
He continued: “These two individuals spent six years arguing over probate, quarrelling over who was entitled to what from Eileen Skilton’s estate. We say those messages do give some insight into how much he hated him.”
Waite of Waddingham, Lincolnshire denies murder, and an alternative charge of manslaughter.
The trial continues.