A man who “felt betrayed by his father” has been jailed for nearly seven years after killing him in a drunken row.
Oxford Crown Court heard Daniel Gonzalez, 41, had drunk half a litre of brandy before pushing past his elderly father on the stairs, causing him to fall on 15 December 2024.
Danny Robinson KC, prosecuting, said Matias Gonzalez, 79, had a long-standing heart condition and used a pacemaker.
The court was told the retired car factory worker lost his balance and fell down the staircase at their home in the Garsington area of Oxford, suffering fatal head injuries from which he died in hospital.
The prosecution said the incident involved a debt that the defendant was owed by another man.
“He [Daniel Gonzalez] said he felt betrayed by his father as he had been looking for the man who owed him £1,500,” Mr Robinson said.
Daniel Gonzalez pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
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The court heard the defendant phoned the emergency services and told the call handler: “I tried to get down the stairs and pushed past him and he fell. I didn’t push him down the stairs.”
He had previously launched drunken attacks against his father, but Matias Gonzalez had not supported a prosecution against his son.
Mr Justice Dexter Dias jailed Daniel Gonzalez for six years and 10 months for manslaughter and told him he would serve two-thirds of the sentence in custody before being eligible for parole.
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During sentencing, the judge said the defendant “felt betrayed by his father” but had engaged in a “dangerous and reckless act” by pushing his father on the stairs.
He also said there were “three [previous] incidents of domestic abuse” and described the pair as having a “difficult and dysfunctional relationship”.
“The defendant clearly has great difficulty in regulating and controlling his drinking.
“This was a sudden, reckless act… I accept the defendant has to live with the knowledge that he killed his father,” he said.
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Andrew Selby KC, defending, said: “It was difficult for Mr [Daniel] Gonzalez to accept that he was responsible for the death of his own father.”
He added: “That sense of responsibility and remorse will stay with him beyond the prison sentence he serves. The remorse is genuine.”
