MUM STANDS BY KILLER FORCED I forgive my baby’s dad for fatally stabbing his own father 18 times

A FRENZIED killer has been forgiven by his girlfriend for knifing to death his wicked dad.

Sasha Wright, 25, had to give birth to their son without James Clarke, 37, who was jailed after stabbing terminally- ill father Graham 18 times.

Yet she will not condemn James for attacking his dad in revenge for his appalling childhood of emotional abuse and neglect.

Heroin addict Graham forced James into stealing from the age of five to feed his habit.

Clarke believes Graham, 52, was also responsible for getting wife Marilyn and daughter Rachel, both now dead, hooked on drugs and even pimped out the girl to fund his destructive appetite.

Sasha, who is raising their 16-month-old son Brandon while James is serving 10 years, said he had been treated worse than a dog and she was surprised he had not committed the crime sooner.

She said: “What James did ruined my first taste of motherhood. I went through pregnancy alone and gave birth to our son while his dad was serving time.

“It’s been the toughest time of my life but I won’t turn my back on James. People have done that to him his whole life.

“This might sound harsh but James’ dad has had his justice, but where’s James’ justice?

Addiction

“Where’s his justice for the childhood he led, for every time he was sent out to rob or steal, for the lack of food in his fridge or the bullying from other children as his family had nothing?

“Everyone knew James was at risk as a kid, the police, the social workers and his teachers, but he was abandoned by society.”

When James was sent to Knowl View residential school for boys in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, aged 11, it was meant to be his salvation. But he was “beaten and abused” at the home where disgraced MP Cyril Smith allegedly sexually interfered with boys.

At 16, James became estranged from his dad. They only reunited when James found out Graham was dying. He told his son he had terminal cancer but was, in fact, dying of lung disease.

In April 2015, James snapped after his dad refused to apologise for his blighted childhood.

The attack was so brutal that he carried on beating Graham even after the knife broke.

Sasha said: “James knows what he’s done is wrong and has to live with that for the rest of his life, but dogs have been treated better than he was as a child. He was arrested, aged five, after his dad took him to steal lead from a roof and the police caught them.

“He’d push James through half-opened windows to burgle people’s homes. Worse still, when James’ sister Rachel got hooked on drugs, Graham would sell her for sex to get money to feed his addiction. “James said his dad had killed his mum and sister by getting them into drugs. “He’d tell me how he wished he was dead and wanted to kill him. When I found out what he’d done, deep down I was only surprised he hadn’t done it earlier.” Rachel died in 2007, aged 23, and Marilyn three years later from heroin overdoses. James handed himself in to cops after the killing and told officers: “I didn’t want him to die without paying for what he’s done.” Police took Sasha, then eight weeks’ pregnant with Brandon, into protection even though she was sure he would never harm her. She began bleeding heavily at the police station and spent a night in hospital as her boyfriend spent his first night in jail. Sasha’s own childhood was a world apart from that of her boyfriend, whom she met while working in her parents’ pub near Wigan. She has spent the past four months living with mum Paula, 45, and dad Denis, 52, after struggling to cope on her own. She said: “We’re the type of family who always support each other.

“I think seeing us like that made James question his own upbringing even more. I kind of blame myself for not seeing that.”

The couple had been dating for a year when Graham Clarke got in touch with his son claiming to have cancer. It was later discovered he had a lung condition.

Desperate to help, the pair renovated Graham’s “filthy” bungalow and, in late 2014, moved in to help look after him.

Sasha said: “Graham needed an oxygen machine to breathe, yet he’d refuse to stop smoking.

“He’d take his mask off and have a quick puff before putting it back on again. He was no longer