Man jailed after killing biological father hours after learning he was his son
Jailed for six years after court rejected self-defence claim
Last updated 23rd Oct 2026
A man who killed his biological father on Christmas Eve hours after finding out he was his son has been jailed for six years.
Steven Shevels, 61, hit his head on the concrete floor of a pub beer garden and died after being pushed over by Martin Greensmith.
Greensmith, 37, was jailed at Newcastle Crown Court on Friday after being found guilty of manslaughter.
The court heard Greensmith went to the Queen’s Head pub, in Willington, Co Durham, on December 24 last year with his family.
While they were there, Mr Shevels, who was drunk, came into the pub and had several exchanges with Greensmith’s family.
At some point, Greensmith’s mother told him for the first time that Mr Shevels was his biological father.
Judge Jonathan Carroll told the defendant: “Mr Shevels said something you objected to.
“You were immediately angry and aggressive.”
The court heard that later on, when both men were in the beer garden, Greensmith approached Mr Shevels and delivered a “powerful and aggressive push” to his upper body, causing him to immediately fall and hit his head on the concrete floor.
Judge Carroll said: “The jury, rightly in my view, rejected your assertion of self-defence. Mr Shevels … was presenting absolutely no risk or threat to you.”
In a victim impact statement read in court, Mr Shevels’ daughter Chloe Shevels said her father was “a quiet and timid man” who loved nature and rock music.
She said: “He died on Christmas Eve. I found out through gossip from other people when I was opening presents.
“I now dread the thought of Christmas.”
Mr Shevels’ sister Angela Thompson said he was “the victim of an unprovoked and selfish act of violence, which took his life and took him from us far too soon”.
She said: “It’s bad enough this happened, but for it to have happened on Christmas Eve makes it a lot worse.
“Christmas is supposed to be a time of happiness and togetherness. Well, that’s been taken away from us now.”
In mitigation, the court heard Greensmith was “genuinely remorseful” and had experienced “significant emotional distress” and intrusive thoughts since the incident.
A pre-sentence report said he may have felt “overwhelmed” by the fact that Mr Shevels was his biological father, and that this was the first and only time he had met him, when he was “drunk and unpleasant to his family”.