A MAN has appeared in court charged with murdering his seriously ill father in his hospital bed.

Ralph Stephenson, 45, of Tyne Road East, Stanley, County Durham, has been accused of asphyxiating Ralph Stephenson, 86, at the University Hospital of North Durham last Thursday.

Mr Stephenson senior, of Hazel Terrace, The Middles, near Stanley, suffered from Parkinson’s disease. He had been admitted to the hospital three weeks earlier and was in poor health.

Mr Stephenson, who appeared before District Judge Michael Wood sitting at Peterlee Magistrate’s Court yesterday, did not show emotion during the hearing. He was dressed in a open-necked shortsleeved shirt and spoke only to confirm his name.

Jason Smith, appearing for Mr Stephenson, applied for bail on his behalf. Judge Wood denied the application and remanded him in custody to appear at a preliminary hearing at Newcastle Crown Court on Wednesday, June 24.

A former post office worker, Mr Stephenson senior had been admitted to hospital on May 21 from a private nursing home in Stanley. He was suffering a number of medical problems, including pneumonia.

He died in his hospital bed shortly before midnight last Thursday.

A post-mortem examination was carried out by Home Office pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton, who concluded the death should be treated as suspicious.

Police took statements from a number of hospital staff at the weekend, before arresting Mr Stephenson junior at his home, in Stanley, on Monday morning.

Mr Stephenson junior is a post office clerk and was the full-time carer of his father. He has a partner and two daughters in their late teens.

Neighbours of both men spoke of their shock at learning of the pensioner’s death. A man who lived in the same street as Ralph and Mary Stephenson, 84, for about 20 years, said: “They were a lovely family.

“He was interested in his garden and had a dog that he used to take for a walk, but then his health failed him. “We have not seen Ralph (senior) for a number of months. But his son still came quite often to pick up his mother.”

Neighbours of Mr Stephenson junior described him as a quiet man who kept to himself.