A man who stabbed his mum in an alcohol and cocaine-fuelled attack at their Wirral home was jailed for 14 years.
David Matthews, 32, of Adaston Avenue, Eastham, had already served a jail sentence for threatening to kill his devoted parents with a saw.
But Liverpool Crown Court heard his long-running resentment over being adopted led to him embedding a knife two-inches deep in his mum’s shin on June 27 this year.
Judge Clement Goldstone, QC, said: “You made matters worse by refusing to let your father call an ambulance.
“Such was your matter of fact attitude to what you had done, you went to the kitchen, took a beer out of the fridge and as you left the house, calmly said that you were going back to jail. You certainly are.”
Simon Christie, prosecuting, said Matthews was angry with his parents, who are both in their 60s, because he had not been able to attend his grandad’s funeral.
He began arguing with his dad and when his mum tried to calm him down, he grabbed her by the hair and started punching and kicking her.
Mr Christie said the family dog “went for him” and the defendant kicked the pet.
He said: “His mother went to the kitchen and removed all of the big kitchen knives because she was fearful.
“He shouted if he couldn’t find the knives, he would get an axe. He said ‘I will kill one of you’.”
Matthews found a knife with a four-inch blade in the sink and tried to plunge it into his mum’s neck.
She put her hand up to defend herself and her left arm took the brunt of the stabbing.
When she sat down he stabbed her just below her right kneecap, ignoring her screams for an ambulance as blood ran down her leg.
Paramedics later said it was too dangerous to touch the knife and the victim had to undergo surgery to remove the blade.
She now has an ongoing problem with deep vein thrombosis.
Police tracked Matthews to a nearby address, where he revealed he was carrying a bag of cocaine.
When told he was being arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, he replied: “Get a grip d***heads, I was abused as a child.”
His mum has suffered from nightmares, but said she wanted to try and resume “a happy relationship”.
She said: “I keep having visions. I can see him coming with the knife.”
Matthews pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of cocaine.
Previous attacks on parents
The defendant has five previous convictions for assault – three involving his parents.
Magistrates handed him a community order in 2005 after he forced his way into his parents’ home, punched his dad in the eye and bit his right arm.
In 2009 he repeatedly punched his dad before threatening to kill him with a screwdriver.
When his parents called police, Matthews threatened to kill them with a saw. He was jailed for 16 months.
John Weate, defending, said his client was “devastated” by his actions.
He said: “In his own words ‘his mum did not deserve this offence’.
“He found out at a vulnerable age he was adopted, psychologically didn’t deal with that well and became distrustful of his parents, who he accepts are devoted to him.
“He got angry with the world and spent his teens abusing alcohol and abusing drugs.”
Mr Weate said Matthews had stayed out of trouble for five years, but then returned to live at the family home, where his problems flared up again.
He said: “His intentions are now to grasp the opportunity to get the psychological help that he clearly needs.”
Judge Goldstone said the incident was “the latest in a long history of disputes” between Matthews and his adoptive parents over 20 years.
He said: “The fact is that you suffer from underlying psychological difficulties in relation to your adoption.”
He said Matthews had written to him, saying: “It’s a shame it had to come to this for me to finally wake up to my demons”.
The judge gave Matthews an extended sentence consisting of 10 years in prison and an additional four years on licence.
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/