A MAN has been convicted of murdering his frail 78-year-old father by strangling him.

John Sharp, 48, from Greenock, throttled John Sharp Snr so violently that he shattered a bone in his neck and his Adam’s apple.

A court heard that the attack was sparked by Sharp confronting his father about why he dangled him out a window when he was 15-months-old.

Sharp had claimed that he acted in self defence after his father punched him.

The High Court in Glasgow heard that the attack happened at the victim’s home in Ann Street, Greenock, on January 9, and that the pensioner used a zimmer frame.

Sharp told the court he and his father had rowed as they were having a cup of tea.

He said: “I asked him why when I was 15-months-old he held me outside a window.”