Surgeon ‘stabbed by figure wearing head torch and dark clothing’
COLLEAGUE ON TRIAL ACCUSED OF ATTEMPTED MURDER
A 66-YEAR-OLD retired consultant plastic surgeon described the moment he was stabbed by a person he found in the garden of his home.
Graeme Perks was treated for serious injuries following the attack at the property in Halam Hill, Halam, near Southwell, on January 14, 2021.
Prosecutors allege colleague Jonathan Peter Brooks, a consultant surgeon who is on trial for attempted murder, cycled to the Perks’ family home with the intent to kill Mr Perks, who the prosecution said Dr Brooks “hated”.
The incident happened as Dr Brooks was subject to disciplinary proceedings. They had started on January 11, 2021, online via Microsoft Teams during lockdown. On January 13, 2021, the disciplinary hearing continued.
The defendant allegedly tried to postpone the hearing but that was refused. Statements from Mr Perks formed evidence in those disciplinary proceedings.
“There is no question that by the 14th of January the defendant had had enough of those proceedings,” said Tracy Ayling QC, prosecuting, to the jury at Nottingham Crown Court.
“And just as clearly, the Crown say, he decided that instead of following the law he was going to take the law into his own hands.
“It is clear, say the Crown, that the defendant hated Graeme Perks, and you can conclude on the evidence that he wanted him out of the way”.
It is alleged that Dr Brooks wore a head torch, camouflage jacket, trousers and hat, and was armed with a crowbar, cans of petrol, matches and a knife, before he poured fuel on the ground floor.
A fire investigation dog later sniffed out the locations of fuel on both sides of steps close to magazines where accelerant had been poured.
A video interview was played at Brooks’ trial showing Mr Perks detailing events that cold, snowy morning before he suffered a life-threatening injury, which 95 percent of patients would not have survived.
He told police he heard a loud noise and he woke and “it was really unusual”. Leaping out of bed, he ran downstairs into the drawing room and there appeared to be a huge hole in the door of the conservatory.
He thought he smelt something unusual. But this was not something he was focusing on. He said saw a figure outside in his garden in dark clothing with his back to him.
Mr Perks at first thought it was his 29-year-old son, Henry, as the person had the same build.
He remembered how he said to the person: “What the hell is going on, Henry?” The figure turned round wearing a head lamp. He was unsure whether the person had a balaclava on.
He could not see the face properly – the light was in his eyes. “I was convinced it obviously wasn’t Henry,” said Mr Perks.
No words were said. The next thing he remembered was feeling a blow to his body. He put his hands to the area and felt it was warm and sticky and “I felt something poking out of my abdomen and decided I must have been stabbed”.
He turned back to his detached home and police and paramedics were called.
Miss Ayling told the jury, as she opened the Crown’s case: “His (Brooks’) intention was, say the Crown, to break into Mr Perks’ house, set fire to it and, if necessary, stab Mr Perks. In short, he intended to kill Mr Perks.
“But things did not go as planned when Brooks was disturbed and, say the prosecution, he had to resort to the use of a knife rather than fire”.
Brooks did not attend the trial yesterday. The 56-year-old, of Landseer Road, Southwell, is charged with attempted murder, attempted arson with intent to endanger the lives of Graeme Perks, his wife Beverley and son Henry Perks, and possession of a knife in a public place. The charges are all denied.
The trial continues