Farmer sentenced to life for 2019 barrel murder

A 73-year-old farmer has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 35 years for the 2019 murder of his lodger, whose dismembered remains were concealed in a concrete-filled barrel for nearly six years. Christopher Wright was convicted of murdering Richard Dyson, 55, at Sheffield Crown Court last month. His childhood friend, Karl Schwalbe, 72, was found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice and was sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday, August 6, 2026.

The court heard that Dyson, who had been living in his car outside Wright's cottage in Hoyland near Barnsley and helping with odd jobs, was killed after Wright discovered Dyson had stolen a machine gun from his collection. Prosecutors said Wright, described as a weapons fanatic and collector of vintage firearms, became "greatly angered" by the theft and shot Dyson with a readily available shotgun on or around November 17, 2019, the date of Dyson's last phone call.

Following the killing, Wright enlisted Schwalbe's help to conceal the crime. In a confession read to the court on Thursday, Schwalbe stated he went to Wright's home late on the night of the murder after a suspicious phone call. He...