Life sentence for father in hammer attack on his children
A FATHER who tried to kill his four young children by bludgeoning them with a hammer before driving them into a pub wall at 92mph has been jailed for life.
Owen Scott’s seven-year-old daughter, who lost almost half her skull in the attack, “openly hates him,” a judge heard ahead of sentencing at Sheffield Crown Court. She remains in hospital, paralysed down one side, and will be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
Scott, 29, was having a cocaine-induced psychotic episode and believed he was “protecting” his children by fleeing the clutches of an “evil gang”.
The scaffolder drove his three children and stepdaughter 250 miles from his home in Fawley, Hants, to Thurgoland, South Yorks, last August.
He repeatedly struck all four with a hammer before careering into the wall. His 21-month-old son has a hole in his skull, which will require further surgery, and both he and his nine-monthold brother have to wear protective helmets. His eight-year-old stepdaughter also suffered severe injuries.
Mrs Justice O’farrell ordered Scott to serve a minimum of 14 years for attempted murder.