Farmer who killed lodger and hid body in concrete in South Yorkshire jailed for life

Christopher Wright, 73, who shot Richard Dyson and dismembered his remains, given 35-year minimum term A man who killed his lodger and concealed his dismembered body in a barrel filled with concrete for more than five years has been jailed for a minimum of 35 years. Christopher Wright, a 73-year-old farmer from South Yorkshire, was convicted in July in Sheffield crown court of murdering Richard Dyson, 55, in 2019. Dyson had been living in his car on Wright’s farm in Hoyland and had been doing jobs for the then 67-year-old when the pair had a falling out. Wright, an antique firearms collector who was described as a “weapons fanatic” during his trial, suspected Dyson of stealing some of his prized possessions and selling them. The court heard that when Wright confronted Dyson with his suspicions in November 2019 an argument broke out that ended with Dyson being shot in the chest and arm with a shotgun, killing him.

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Scoop News DeskSouth Yorkshire · Published Thursday, August 6, 2026 at 2:33 PM UTCUpdated Thursday, August 6, 2026 at 3:22 PM UTC

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Dyson’s daughter Bethany Dainty, who filed a missing person report in the days after her father was murdered, read a victim impact statement in court detailing how hard it had been not knowing her father’s fate: “I couldn’t grieve because I did not know the truth.” She added: “While I cried myself to sleep, while I begged for answers, while I prayed my dad would walk through the door again, someone already knew where he was.