A ‘WICKED’ father who gunned down a road worker and then tried to blame his own son has been found guilty of murder.

A jury took just two hours 19 minutes to unanimously find Matthew Moseley guilty of the murder of Lee Holt.

Mr Justice Ryan warned the 50-year-old tree surgeon that he will be given a life sentence and told the defendant the only question remaining is exactly how long it will be.

Moseley, of Barnard Close, Oswaldtwistle, will be sentenced on Tuesday morning.

Mr Holt’s family broke down in tears when the verdict was announced. Speaking on the steps of Preston Crown Court, Mr Holt’s sister Laura said: “Lee was my brother and we all loved him dearly.

“Nobody should lose one of their children. But they certainly shouldn’t be lost in these circumstances, gunned down on a doorstep in a quiet residential street. I’m not sure how our family will ever recover from this – instead of having Lee the son, Lee the father and Lee the brother, we now only have our memories.

“He will never walk his daughters down the aisle or meet his own grandchildren. Lee deserved so much more.”

During the trial, the jury were how Moseley opened his front door and gunned down 32-year-old Mr Holt, from Accrington, before he handed the shotgun to son Thomas and told him: “Tell them you have done it because you can’t get done for it.”

Out of love and loyalty to his father, the teenager then made a fake confession to police when they arrived at the family home on October 25 last year.

Thomas was arrested and when led away in handcuffs he said to his father: “I’m sorry dad. I’m really sorry.”

The teenager decided to tell the truth when interviewed by police, the court heard.

He told officers: “I thought I was covering for my dad, sticking up for him.

“He is my dad. I love him to bits but you would think he would take responsibility for what he has done and not let his son take the blame for him.”

The defendant claimed the shooting was an accident after he grabbed the semi-automatic Beretta weapon from his son to try to lift it upwards and the gun “just went off”.

Jurors heard, though, that initially Moseley told police he did not know who shot Mr Holt and never mentioned in nine subsequent interviews in custody that his hand was on the firearm when it was discharged in Barnard Close.

Prosecutor Robert O’Sullivan QC accused Moseley of inventing his account after waiting for the evidence to be served against him following his charge for murder.

Mr Holt went to Barnard Close with his partner, Kate Phelan, 34, and her 15-year-son, Wesley Metcalfe, to confront Thomas over an ongoing dispute between the schoolboys.

Witnesses said Ms Phelan banged on the front windows and Mr Holt kicked the front door as they shouted for the Moseleys to come out.

Thomas Moseley said he then saw his father - a keen clay pigeon shooter - bend down on one knee and take out one of his licensed guns from a cabinet next to the porch and load it with three cartridges.

His father told him to ring the police, he said, and 11 seconds into the 999 call Mr Holt was shot once in the chest and died in hospital later the same evening.

From that point onwards the defendant sought to manipulate his son into falsely taking the blame for the shooting.

In a covert recording of a prison van conversation, Matthew Moseley can be heard telling his son: “You are a minor. You can’t go to any jail.

“Self defence for you and you didn’t know what you were doing. Me, different ball game. And that is the way we have got to go with this.”

Giving evidence, Matthew Moseley denied he had asked his son to say anything on his his behalf.

He said the Beretta shotgun had been left out for cleaning and he saw his son with three cartridges in his hand amid the commotion outside.

He then claimed he made his intervention at the front door when Thomas aimed the weapon at Mr Holt.

But the jury of eight women and four men rejected his account and returned the guilty verdict.

Speaking after the hearing, Det Chf Insp Jill Johnston said: “I’m pleased with the verdict reached by the jury and grateful for all the consideration they have given to the evidence.

“Matthew Moseley has shown no remorse. He has accepted no responsibility for his part in this tragic event.

“Not only was he happy for his teenage son to take responsibility but even put a considerable amount of pressure on him to do so.

“It beggars belief. What kind of parent could ever carry out such an act?

“His behaviour has been nothing less than wicked.

“It has been a very difficult and challenging investigation for those reasons and I just hope now that Lee Holt’s family can take some comfort in seeing justice being served.

“The bravery of Lee’s family and all the witnesses in this case has been commendable.

“I feel very saddened about the impact that this will have had on Thomas and how he will ever come to terms with what his father has done. I hope that he can continue in life to develop and grow. It’s now clear he is a boy of strong morals and beliefs and has been a witness of truth throughout the trial. He has had to give evidence in the most difficult of circumstances. The impact on all of them has been life-changing.”

DCI Johnston added: “Moseley was a licensed firearm holder and should have known how dangerous these kinds of weapons are. Instead, in the heat of an altercation he used one of them to take a man’s life needlessly, all over a fall-out between two schoolboys.

“The impact of what all of the people witnessed on that night cannot be underestimated with each and every one of their lives having been hugely affected.”