A TEENAGE boy launched a savage axe attack on his parents while they slept as he did not want to go to school on Monday.
He told police he spent Sunday night at home watching telly – before savagely launching his attack.
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The 15-year-old boy swung the large double-handed axe on his dad while he was sleeping at the family’s Sussex home.
He then attacked his mother, who was in a separate bedroom and got up after hearing the attack on her husband.
Both of them suffered severe injuries with the boy’s dad sustaining at least five skull fractures and his wife had part of her ear severed.
The boy admitted the attempted murder of both his parents and was ordered to be detained under the mental health act at Lewes crown court, sitting at Brighton.
He told cops he picked up the large axe thinking it would be a good weapon to use as it would be quick and would only need one blow.
The court heard the boy did not want to go to school and had decided to kill himself and his parents.
The boy, now aged 16, watched and listened on a video link from a special hospital as prosecutor Ryan Richter read out gruesome extracts from the lad’s diary.
He wrote: ‘’I have to kill my parents tonight there’s no other way I’ll never get better, things will never change and I don’t have a choice.”
The boy told police he had been planning to kill for a while.
The prosecutor told how the boy had been watching television waiting for his parents to go to bed before launching his ferocious axe attack.
Mr Richter went on: “After midnight, he had gone to the garage to retrieve the double handled large axe that he knew was there as his father uses it to chop wood.
“He thought that it would be a good and quick way to kill as he would only need to hit them once.
“He then lifted the axe above his head and struck his father.
“It was dark, so he wasn’t sure where he had struck him. He kept going.
“His dad screamed out in pain and then went to his mum’s room, not sure if he had killed dad or not by that point.
“When he entered his parents’ room, his mum was stood up and he walked up to her and swung the axe at her, knocking her to the floor.
“He can’t recall if he dropped the axe or if his mum got it off him.’’
The boy’s parents were taken to a West Sussex hospital.
His dad had six axe wounds to his face and head and a CT scan revealed he suffered five skull fractures.
There was a bleed on his brain and piece of skull was embedded in his brain.
He also had a broken finger and defensive wounds to his arms including a deep laceration to his right wrist.
The boy’s mum had her left ear partially severed and a cut to her left cheek.
She had also sustained significant lacerations to her right upper arm and to her right thigh.
The court heard how the boy had suffered significant bullying at school.
In his police interview, the boy said he did not want to go to school.
Mr Richter said: “He said that he had wanted to kill his parents because he had intended to commit suicide himself.
“He said he did not want his parents to ‘go through’ the fact that he had committed suicide.
“He told the police that he had issues at school and that he didn’t want to go to school.”
Both parents were in court, supported by other family members, as their son watched Friday’s proceedings via live link from a special hospital.
The Honourable Mrs Justice Justine Thornton KC said the family had expressed their love and support for the boy who has been diagnosed with autism and depressive disorder.
He will stay in a secure unit for his own wellbeing and the safety of the public, the judge said.
The judge added to the bit of his family: “They continue to love and support you.
“They say you are kind, thoughtful and intelligent young man who has experienced significant trauma which led to a breakdown.
“I am satisfied you are suffering from a mental disorder and it is of a nature for you to be detained in a hospital for ongoing treatment.”
The court heard his parents had tried to get treatment for their son before he attacked them.
How to get help
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
