A LANDSCAPE gardener who knifed to death his girlfriend and six-year-old son has failed in his legal bid to inherit their estate.

Paul Chadwick, who killed Lisa Clay and Joseph Chadwick at their home in Bolton-le-Sands last year, has been told he is not entitled to either the home or assets left behind by Miss Clay, despite attempting to exploit a legal loophole which could have left him £80,000 better off.

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If he had won the fight he would have made legal history, by getting around a law which normally prevents killers from inheriting or profiting from their victims.

Now the family of Miss Clay say they hope to 'find peace' following the judgment.

“It is our belief that justice has been done," said Miss Clay's aunt, Greta Squires, represented by legal firm, Slater and Gordon.

"We have faced a nine-month ordeal preparing for this case. We have had to relive the harrowing details of Lisa and Joseph’s death and listen to Chadwick pleading the victim in court.

“But we were willing to bear this torment to defend the principle that crime should not pay.

“We hope this is the end of this matter and we are able find peace and know that Lisa and Joseph’s memory has not been violated by this killer.”

The case was held on Monday and Tuesday at Manchester's Civil Justice Centre, with a judgment delivered today.

The court heard Chadwick, 35, was already entitled to half the proceeds of any sale of the bungalow he and Miss Clay owned on Lowlands Road, but was bidding for her half of £60,000 as well as another £20,000 of assets in her name.

Although the law states that those convicted of murder or manslaughter cannot inherit from their victim or profit from their crimes, there is a clause allowing the ban to be waived on the grounds of 'exceptional circumstance' - and Chadwick, who has been held in a secure mental health unit after pleading guilty to two counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, had claimed his mental illness meant he had not intended to kill.

He told the court this week that Marks and Spencer employee Miss Clay, 40, would have wished him to inherit the £80,000 as he was 'very unwell' at the time of the killings.

"It's not about benefitting," he told the court. "I have lost more than any money that can be given to me.

"I have not benefited in any way. I have lost Lisa and I have lost my son Joseph. Money does not mean anything in life."

When Miss Clay's body was discovered, on April 9, she had been stabbed 32 times, while Joseph had suffered 25 puncture and stab wounds, including one to his neck which was three inches deep.

Miss Clay had previously made a will in which she said all her assets would transfer to Chadwick in the event of her death.

This week Chadwick's barrister, Michael Whyatt, told the court his client was a changed man.

"He is having treatment. He is not the same man," he said.

"Mr Chadwick has a very, very low level of culpability for what happened."