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A retired fireman has beencharged with bludgeoningto death his adopted son,whose body was found bypolice stashed in the boot ofa car.Colin McSweeny, 58, of
Parry Road, South Nor-wood, is set to stand trial inJune next year for the mur-der of Shaun McSweeny,discovered by officers calledto reports of aman trying todump a body in the River
Thames at 3am on Friday.The 24-year-old, who had
a young daughter and a girl-friend, was pronounceddead where he was foundnear Deptford Wharf. Apostmortem examinationestablished he was killed bya blunt force blow to thehead.Flowers and tributes have
been left outside the formerCroydon College student’sfamily home.One card, signed byMark,
said: “Shaun, I’m going tomiss you man! You weresuch a nice bloke. You didn’tdeserve this. I’m never
going to forget you”.Another read: “To our
beloved Shaun, RIP youlegend”.A friend, who studied an
entry-level constructioncourse at Croydon Collegewith Shaun in 2009, said heseemed excited about be-coming a father and wantedto follow in his adoptivedad’s footsteps as afirefighter.The 22-year-old, who
asked not to be named, said:“His partner at the timewaspregnant and he was reallyexcited about being a dad.He got her name tattooed on
his arm straight away, assoon as she was born. Hewas a good dad.“He was just a real gen-
uine, happy guy. He livedhis life. He’d have fun. Wewere good pals. We used togo to the pub a lot and justbe boys. He was just a calm,chilled lad.”He added: “He wasn’t
going tomess about. He wasquite serious and had aplan, or seemed like he didanyway. At the time hewanted to be a fireman andwas going through the ap-plication forms.”Police arrested Mr Mc-
Sweeny on Friday morningafter being called to Dept-ford Wharf at about 3am.They charged him withmurder later that day.A woman arrested in
South Norwood on Fridaywas released withoutcharge.Mr McSweeny appeared
at the Old Bailey yesterday,Tuesday, morning, when hewas remanded in custodyuntil a plea and case man-agement hearing on Febru-ary 10.A provisional trial date
has been set for June1.
Gruesome discovery: A police officer stands guard near where the body of Shaun McSweeny, inset, was found in Deptford Wharf
chris.baynes@london.newsquest.co.uk
REPORTER
CHRIS BAYNES
Former firefighter to stand trial for killing adopted son
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