A man who beat up his elderly father, attacking him repeatedly throughout the night, has been given a suspended prison sentence – with a condition that he lives with his father.
A judge imposed the unusual order at Warwick Crown Court after reading psychiatric reports on Philip Smith and hearing that his father was willing to have him back.
Smith, age 43, of Ufton Fields, Ufton, near Leamington, had pleaded guilty to assaulting his 78-year-old father Colin Smith, causing him actual bodily harm.
Prosecutor Rebecca Wade said that Smith, who has spent time in custody and at a hostel in Birmingham since the incident, was living with his father last year.
“Matters came to light because at 9am on December 16, Colin Smith went to his local shop round the corner from where he lives.
“He was in his dressing gown and pyjamas. The shop assistant saw his face was very bruised and covered in marks.
“She asked him what had happened, and he said ‘Can you ring 999. My son’s beaten me up.’
“He left the store, but two other customers went out and brought him back to wait for an ambulance.
“The police attended with the ambulance, and he expressed shock that his son had beaten him up. The police went to the address, and the defendant seemed heavily intoxicated.”
The Christmas tree in the living room had been knocked over, a chair had been broken, and there was blood on the slats.
Colin Smith told officers that over the previous few days he had had problems with his son, who had been abusive towards him and had damaged property and threatened him with a knife.
He said he had gone to bed to get away from him, but that at around midnight Smith repeatedly began to attack him, doing so on several occasions, mainly with his fists but also with the chair, between then and when he went to the shop.
As a result of the incident, the pensioner had two black eyes, a heavily bruised face and a cut to his hand, caused as he had tried to protect himself, added Miss Wade.
Amy Jackson, defending, said Smith had been remanded in custody for about five months following his arrest before being granted bail with a condition of living at a probation hostel in Birmingham while he underwent assessment of his mental health.
She said the hostel was willing for him to remain there with a three-month condition of residence and a condition of receiving mental health treatment under a suspended sentence.
“The other alternative, which I submit is the better course, is that he returns to Warwickshire to live with his father where, if there are any breaches of the order, he can be moved away.”
She said Colin Smith, who had come with him to court, was happy to have him back, and he would receive treatment from the mental health service.
Agreeing to that course, Recorder Geoffrey Kelly told Smith: “I have in mind that you have already served a ten-month sentence on remand.”
