A café owner who kissed his father on the head before stabbing him in the chest has been jailed for five and a half years. Andrew Roberts, 37, of Woodward Road in Rock Ferry, faced a jury at Liverpool Crown Court last week accused of attempting to murder his 56-year-old father, David Roberts.
The court heard that the two men had been watching a film together before the attack at the father's home on Big Meadow Road in Woodchurch. Roberts reportedly kissed his father on the head and said, "This is the last time you ever get a kiss off me." He then stabbed him in the chest.
Roberts had also sent a text message to his wife 15 minutes before the stabbing, asking, "Would you stand by me if I killed Dave?" He admitted wounding with intent midway through the trial but denied attempted murder. However, the jury was discharged after failing to reach a verdict on the more serious charge. The Crown Prosecution Service decided not to seek a retrial, and the attempted murder charge was dropped.
The Sentencing
Sentencing Roberts, Judge Simon Medland KC said: "He was recovering from serious surgery. With the combination of his age and recovery from surgery, he was not in a good state and he was not very mobile. He was sitting in his chair. You and he had spent several hours in each other's company without incident. He had made you a bite to eat for lunch. You had been laughing and joking.
"Something in your mind changed. You did a very unusual thing. You and your dad are not close. You kissed him on top of the head and said 'it's the last kiss you'll get from me'. I am satisfied, when you did that, you already had in mind to seriously hurt him."
The judge noted that Roberts used a knife from the kitchen and stabbed his father in the upper chest. "Thankfully, it did not go in that far. It was far enough to open up a significant wound in his chest and far enough to puncture the chest wall. But, such were the circumstances, quite by chance, not by design, that it was not any deeper than that."
The Incident
The court heard that Roberts had been staying with his father at the time of the attack on December 16 last year. He had been drinking heavily the previous evening but apologized the next morning. The two men cleaned the kitchen and watched a film together. When Roberts got up from the couch, his father thought he was going to the toilet, but instead, Roberts began punching him in the head. David Roberts then felt blood running down his chest and realized he had been stabbed.
The father was taken to Aintree Hospital, where he was found to have a 4cm stab wound to the chest and a laceration to his left hand. The knife blade, smeared with blood, was recovered from the floor, but the handle had snapped off due to the force of the attack.
Roberts fled the scene but was later spotted by police drinking lager and carrying beer. He ran away but was arrested in an alleyway. He had a small cut to his neck and dried blood on his hands. The black hooded coat he had been wearing was never found.
Defense and Background
In a prepared statement, Roberts claimed his father had been drunk and abusive, and that he had acted in self-defense. He denied stabbing his father. However, text messages showed Roberts had repeatedly threatened to kill his father in the hours before the attack.
Brendan Carville, defending, said: "He had a café business. He would feed the poor. Sober, this is a very decent human being, I hesitate to say, a credit to society when he is sober."
Roberts had 44 previous convictions for 19 offences, including arson and burglary. He was jailed for five and a half years for wounding with intent.
