A CONVICTED fraudster who executed his elderly parents in a cold-blooded attempt to collect his £230,000 inheritance is tonight facing life in prison.

Stephen Seddon, 46, shook his head in denial as a jury convicted him of the double murder and attempted murder of his parents.

Seddon, from Seaham, County Durham, had first tried to kill Robert Seddon, 68, and mother, Patricia, 65, by driving into a canal with them strapped in the back seats in a faked road accident.

He then "played the hero" in the aftermath of the "accident" after aborting the murder plan when bystanders went to their aid in the submerged car.

But after that attempt failed, four months later he blasted the couple to death with a sawn-off shotgun at their suburban home in Sale, Greater Manchester.

Seddon planted the gun in his father's lap to give the impression of a murder suicide.

But police investigations showed it was not possible for Mr Seddon to have shot himself in the position in which he was found.

Seddon's parents had made him sole beneficiary of their £230,000 estate in their will.

The victims' family shouted "Yes!" and burst into tears, hugging each other in the public gallery, as Seddon, a father-of-three, from Benevente Street in Seaham, was found guilty after a five-week trial at Manchester Crown Court.

Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, described him as the ultimate "ungrateful son" who had an "insatiable thirst for cash".

His elderly and caring parents had already gifted him £40,000 and bought his home in Seaham to keep a roof over his head.

They enjoyed a "modest but comfortable" life, with Mr Seddon getting an occupational pension from British Airways and Mrs Seddon her state pension.

The couple, married for 47 years, made a will in October 2009, naming each other as beneficiary if one of them died, with their estate worth £230,000.

But if they both died, their son Stephen "got the lot".

During the trial it emerged that Seddon began offending at the age of just 13, appearing before youth courts for offences of burglary, handling and theft.

In the late 1990s he set up a firm, European Business Support, providing grants to small businesses.

The firm charged companies £295 on the promise it would help secure European funding, growing to an annual turnover of £5m.

At one point Seddon had £2m in his bank account and he used used to the cash to live like a millionaire, buying a £46,000 Bentley and a speedboat.

But in 2000 Seddon pleaded guilty at Teeside Crown Court to fraudulent trading and was jailed for a year.

In the weeks before killing his parents he was desperate for money, applying for high-interest, instant-access loans from various finance firms.

On the day of the murders he had just £5.45 in his bank account.

Police believe it was almost a triple murder.

Officers revealed that Seddon had taken three shotgun cartridges with him on July 4, the day of the killing. He did not realise his disabled nephew was in respite care that day and so not at home when the killer came calling.

In his defence, Seddon claimed he had been on a drugs run for a Darlington crime gang on the day of the murders.

A police spokesman said tonight that two men and a woman arrested in Darlington and two men and a woman arrested in Seaham on a variety of charges, including suspicion of conspiracy to murder, will not face any charges.

Seddon will be sentenced tomorrow.