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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

Croydon has almost 300unqualified teachers . . . . page 4

Darth Vader to reprise roadsafety role . . . . . . . . . . . page 5

Partnerships with airport is partof Develop Croydon conference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 6

Recycling rates fall . . . . page 10

Campaign to help child comehome for Christmas . . . page 11

Siblings rescue deer fromdrowning. . . . . . . . . . . . page 13

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