Man attacked his own mother and trashed her home
A 36-YEAR-OLD man attacked his mother in the middle of the night while shouting “I f ****** hate you” – and later went went on to trash her home and pull a toilet away from a wall.
Michael Murphy, 36, of Merthyr Tydfil, assaulted his mother, for which he received a suspended prison sentence.
But after he was told to leave her home, he left holes and scratches around the house before dismantling the bathroom.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court yesterday heard the defendant woke his mother up at 2.50am on October 14 last year by smashing glass.
She went down to see what was going on but Murphy unleashed “a frenzied attack” which saw him punching her and pulling her by the hair while shouting “I f ****** hate you, I f ****** hate you”.
He was later sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment suspended for 24 months after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm. But he went on to cause his mother more distress after that
On April 29, Murphy was described becoming “violent and unpredictable”.
Fearing her son would “lash out” at her, the victim went to her daughter’s house to help her with some DIY.
Prosecutor Meirion Davies said the victim returned home at 5pm and saw Murphy had placed a number of her items on the stairs.
She decided to leave the house again when he began shouting aggressively at her and smashing objects on the floor.
Murphy’s mother spent the night at her daughter’s home and phoned her son to tell him to leave her home.
But he responded with aggressive swearing.
When she returned home on May 1, she discovered holes, marks and scratches all over the house and the toilet had been pulled away from the bathroom wall.
A locking mechanism on the door had also been destroyed.
The victim said the incident made her “fear for her safety” and was scared she would be assaulted by Murphy again.
In a victim personal statement, she said her son “needed help”.
The defendant, of Penlan View, later pleaded guilty to criminal damage and breach of a suspended sentence.
He also had previous convictions for criminal damage when he punched through his ex-partner’s car window, and assaulting an emergency worker.
In mitigation, the court heard Murphy had been addicted to cocaine and relapsed into drug use after experiencing mental health issues caused by trauma in his life.
It was said the drugs have an “adverse” effect on his behaviour and he “takes it out” on those closest to him.
Sentencing, Recorder Eugene Egan said: “This was an unpleasant incident which does you no credit whatsoever. It was mean offending by you.”
Murphy was sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment.