EIGHT years ago to the day, domineering Timothy Crook bludgeoned and strangled his elderly parents to death in Swindon before dumping them in the garden of his home in Lincoln, a court heard.

Crook stands charged with the murders of his parents, Robert, 83, and Elsie, 76, at their home in Thames Avenue in July 2007.

Their bodies were discovered 150 miles from their home in a garden in Lincoln, prompting an investigation which spanned six police forces.

Crook, 51, wearing an ill-fitting black suit and tie, appeared calm and expressionless as charges of murder were announced to a jury at the first day of his trial at Bristol Crown Court.

He had previously been deemed unfit to plead after three psychiatric assessments, but now he is able to answer the accusations.

He has been transferred from Rampton Secure Psychiatric Hospital to Broadmoor Hospital after insisting he attends the court for the entirety of the proceedings.

Andrew Langdon QC, prosecuting, told the court: “Over the weekend of the 7th and 8th July 2007, exactly eight years ago, Timothy Crook’s elderly parents were killed in a brutal attack.

"They suffered repeated blows to their bodies and head, some of which were delivered by a weapon, probably a hammer.

“Each were also strangled, probably with a belt. Their bodies were dumped in an overgrown back garden of a house in Lincoln, owned by Timothy Crook.”

The court heard how the couple, who never missed their weekly visits to their daughter on Tuesdays, or lunchtime dance club in Broad Street on Wednesdays, failed to appear at either the following week.

Crook had been sectioned for a month in 2002 after losing his job with the MoD in Lincolnshire at a tribunal.

Upon his release he returned to Swindon to live with his parents, and despite repeated attempts by his family to involve mental health services, he declined to register with a local GP and they did not provide assistance, the jury were told.

“The relationship between them and their son was difficult, and in the weeks leading up to their death, that relationship deteriorated,” said Mr Langdon.

“He denies that he had anything to do with the killing of his parents. He has asserted that he drove his parents in their car while they were alive to Newark, where he left them and returned home.”

Evidence from Crook’s elder sister, Janice Lawrence, recalls a physical assault on his father after he lost his employment tribunal, with his mother suffering bruising when she tried to intervene.

“Janice explains her brother domineering the home, and would not allow his parents visitors,” said Mr Langdon.

“They told her how domineering he was and how frightened they were of him,"

A week prior to their death, her parents told her things had been getting really, really bad, and Timothy was saying he was going to evict them, asking, why are there these people in my house? He would stand over them, demean them and threaten them.”

CCTV footage was shown to the court of Crook making his way home from Newark railway station, close to where his parents’ new Nissan Micra was found abandoned, on the morning of Sunday, July 8, exiting at Peterborough, where he appears to discard his jacket, and travelling through London back to Swindon.

“It is the prosecution’s case that the Crooks were murdered at some time in the critical hours before 11.30pm on Saturday, July 7,” said Mr Langdon.

After concerns were raised by the weekly dance club when Robert and Elsie Crook failed to arrive, enquiries led Lincolnshire Police to Crook’s home in Foxglove Way, where the bodies of his parents were found underneath a discarded suitcase and wheelie bin.

Blood-stained clothing was found in black bin bags dumped over the fence of the family home in Thames Avenue, which matched Elsie’s DNA.

The same blood was discovered splattered around the main bedroom, indicating three possible locations of an assault.

Crook was arrested on the Wednesday and, under caution, said he did not understand what was happening before giving a no comment interview.

A post-mortem examination found both Mr and Mrs Crook died as a result of strangulation with a belt.

Mrs Crook had 24 fresh injuries from "blows, punches, kicks and stamps" and bruises from an oval-shaped weapon, probably a hammer.

Mr Crook's body had similar bruising but he had not suffered from head injuries as severe as his wife's.

Representing Crook, Mr Nigel Pascoe QC, said: "The case for the defendant is 'I did not kill either of my parents'."

Crook denies both counts of murder and the trial, expected to last for three weeks, continues.