Mum 'stabbed son in neck while calling him Jesus'

A West Yorkshire mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia has been made the subject of an indefinite hospital order after she launched a knife attack on her own son.

The woman, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, attacked the 15-year-old in a flat last year after the boy's father had left to go to a nearby shop.

Nicholas Worsley KC, for the woman, said doctors were in complete agreement that the offending came about as a result of a relapse.

Prosecuting, Frances Pencheon told Bradford Crown Court earlier that the defendant had asked her son to give her a hug as they lay on a bed, but she then stabbed him in the neck as he fought her off with kicks and punches.

Ms Pencheon said the woman was telling the boy "you've got to die" and called him Jesus.

The court was told that the injured youngster managed to get out of the flat and ran to the shop where he alerted his father and an ambulance was called.

The boy estimated that he had been stabbed about five times and he had puncture wounds to his neck, back and arms.

While he was being treated in the ambulance the defendant, who had also harmed herself, opened the door and said she was sorry.

A knife was found in the woman's pocket and when police searched the flat they found two further blood-stained knives.

Ms Pencheon said the boy received treatment in hospital for the superficial knife injuries, but he said he had thought he was going to die.

Following psychiatric assessments the defendant pleaded guilty to attempted murder and having a bladed article in a public place and the court heard she had since been receiving treatment at a secure hospital.

Judge Jonathan Rose said the woman had stabbed the child in the neck without warning and he had "bravely" fought her off.

He added that although the psychological harm to him would be "significant and enduring".

Judge Rose referred to the defendant's history of mental illness dating back more than 30 years and said in the lead-up to the attack she had been behaving erratically, quoting from the Bible and using cannabis.

He said the woman's diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia meant it was appropriate for her to be detained in hospital for treatment without limit of time.

"I conclude you would not have committed this offence but for that illness," he told the defendant over a video link.

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