Cambridge teen admits striking mom in head with hammer

‘I love you,’ she tells him in court

A year after her teen son struck her in the head with a hammer, she wanted him to know one thing.

“I love you very much,” the Cambridge woman told him in Kitchener court last week, the first time she saw him since the attack.

Last April, she arrived home to find a screen door cut. Her son, 17 at the time, cut it to get in after forgetting to bring his key. Mother and son argued.

“He then took a hammer, exited the rear door and started hitting the brick of the house with the hammer,” said Crown prosecutor Andre Rajna.

His mother confronted him. Later, while she was doing the dishes, he inexplicably struck her in the left temple with the hammer, court was told.

The teen called his brother to tell him what he did.

On his way to their house, he saw his brother walking outside carrying the hammer. He put him in the car and drove to the house.

“There he saw their mother covered in blood,” Rajna said.

She drove herself to hospital and got five stitches.

The brother drove the assailant to the police station.

The teen pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, defined as wounding, maiming, disfiguring or endangering life. He has no prior record. Justice Craig Parry will sentence him as a youth next month.

The teen “cares tremendously” for his mom, said defence lawyer Tom Brock.

A no-contact order prevented him from seeing her — until the court appearance.

In a statement to the court, his mother told him several times she loves him.

“You are funny, smart, handsome, loyal, talented, bright, helpful and so much more,” she said.

Her voice broke at times.

“No one is perfect,” she told her son.

“Everyone deserves a second chance, an opportunity to start over, to do what they need to do to better themselves. Everyone has a temper, everyone has anger, everyone has emotions and not everyone can communicate properly …”

After the attack, the teen was released on bail and lived with a family member. But the surety asked to be removed, so the teen has spent the last several weeks in custody.

“It has been a lonely situation, I’m told,” Brock said.

“He says he’s in his room probably 22 to 23 hours a day. Obviously it’s not a cell with bars but, nonetheless, contact with the outside world is very limited.”

Brock said he tries to call him every few days to keep his spirits up.

The teen’s mom said she hopes he gets counselling.

“I want to rebuild our relationship,” she said. “I love you and I want you to be able to forgive yourself.

“You are not a horrible person. You are not a monster. I don’t want you to feel alone. We are here to help you. I want you and I need you in my life.”

The Cambridge teen pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and will be sentenced next month