Teen stabbed his dad while ‘filming live’

A TEENAGER stabbed his dad in the neck and chest and streamed the attack live on social media, a court has heard.

The 17-year-old then continued to film his injured father as he walked through the house seeking help.

Locking the defendant up, a judge said the knife attack had been “brutal and premeditated”, and the fact he had streamed the whole incident live was “simply chilling”.

Swansea Crown Court heard the assault took place in April this year.

Carina Hughes, prosecuting, said the teenager – who cannot be named due to his age – and his father had spent the hours before the attack drinking and socialising together in the garden of the house they shared, and the evening had passed seemingly without incident.

However later that night, when the father went inside because it was getting cold, the defendant’s mood began to change, and he became “agitated”. A confrontation in the kitchen followed, and the teenager went upstairs to his bedroom.

The court heard that when his father returned to the garden for a cigarette he could see his son was in his room on his mobile phone – but unbeknown to him, the teenager was live-streaming himself on Snapchat talking about stabbing his dad. The prosecutor said the next thing the dad was aware of was a noise behind him – and then a sudden pain as his son stabbed him in the neck. The boy stabbed the man to the chest, and the father suffered a third wound to the hand as he tried to defend himself. The attack was also shown live on Snapchat.

Miss Hughes said as the injured man made his way back into the house and then out the front door, his son followed him – still filming, and still brandishing the knife.

The court heard a neighbour intervened, prompting the teenager to brandish the knife at him – however the neighbour managed to disarm the defendant, taking the weapon and putting it in a bag. When officers arrived on the scene and arrested the teen, he told them he had two further knives in his trouser pockets.

In his police interview he said he was angry at people who had been “chopsing” to him, and he wanted to “prove them wrong”. He said he had been thinking about stabbing his father, but said if his dad had not been around he would have stabbed whoever was.

The court heard the dad suffered a punctured lung, and stab wounds to his neck and left hand.

The teenager, from Carmarthenshire, had previously pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm, attempted wounding, and threatening another with a bladed article when he appeared in the dock via videolink for sentencing.

In a victim impact statement from the boy’s dad he said his son “was not himself” on the night in question, and “the lockdown was getting to him”.

He said he hoped his son gets the help he needs, adding: “I love him with all my heart.”

Paul Hobson, on behalf of the defendant, said the teenager had had a “difficult upbringing”, and it was clear from pre-sentence reports he was young for his age, and his “emotional development has some way to go”.

Judge Paul Thomas QC described he case as “very sad in many respects”.

He said the live-streaming of the attack on Snapchat was “simply chilling”.

Giving the defendant credit for his guilty pleas he sentenced him to a two-year detention and training order. The teen will serve one half of that period in custody before being released subject to youth support.