JAILED: Drug addict son who put elderly father in hospital
A gesture of kindness cost an 81-year-old man dear when he tried to give his drug addict son money for food, a judge was told.
The visit by Trevor Lee to the home of John, aged 40, led to an argument during which the son grabbed hold of his father's shoulder in a bid to stop him leaving, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
This sent the older man tumbling to the ground in a fall that fractured his hip, revealed Mr Howard Searle who continued: "The son pestered him for money in hospital and there was an incident in which a window was broken.Then he sent somebody else in to continue the pestering of his father."
John Lee then went to a doctors' surgery where the staff were so concerned he might self-harm they alerted police who went looking for him at the home of his father in Henwood Road, Compton.
They discovered the son had broken a window to get into the property and sleep there while his father – who had other medical issues unrelated to the fall – was transferred to a rehabilitation unit.
News of the damage was the final straw for the long suffering parent who finally complained to police about the earlier incident in which his hip was fractured.
John Lee was arrested and released pending further inquiries but while out on bail broke into a house in Rupert Street, Compton and stole a TV and Playstation – total value over £600 – between January 2 and 7. Blood found at the scene matched his DNA and he was arrested and held in custody.
Mr Gurdeep Garcha, defending, said: "He had lived a productive life until 18 months ago when his life started to spiral out of control with drink and drug problems.
"His father was showing kindness but the defendant did not go out of his way to assault him. It was a reckless act but not an especially mean one to grab hold of his shoulder."
John Lee from Cranford Road, Compton admitted causing grievous bodily harm to his father on October 22, burglary and criminal damage and was jailed for two years.
