A teenager who brutally attacked his sleeping parents with an axe has been detained in a secure hospital after admitting attempted murder at Lewes Crown Court, UK.
According to Linda Ikeji Blog, the boy, who was 15 at the time of the attack and is now 16, waited through the night at his Sussex family home before launching the assault in the early hours.
He took a large double-handed axe from the garage and repeatedly struck his father as he slept, causing at least five skull fractures, brain bleeding, and defensive wounds when his father tried to protect himself.
He then turned on his mother, partially severing her ear and inflicting deep cuts to her face, arm, and thigh before she managed to escape and call for help.
Both parents survived the horrific ordeal after emergency surgery.
The father suffered six blows to the head and face, with one impact so severe it embedded skull fragments into his brain tissue.
The mother required extensive treatment for multiple lacerations and the partial loss of her ear.
Police interviews revealed the teenager had been planning the attack for weeks.
He told officers he chose an axe because he believed it would be “quick,” requiring just one blow.
Most disturbingly, he planned to kill his parents before taking his own life.
A diary entry read to the court laid bare his mental anguish: “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 court heard the boy suffers from autism and severe depression.
He had expressed intense hatred of school and felt trapped by relentless bullying, believing that killing his parents would spare them the pain of his planned suicide.
Appearing via video link from his secure hospital unit, the teenager was supported by his parents, who remarkably continue to stand by him despite their ordeal.
They sat in court alongside other family members during the hearing.
Judge Mrs Justice Justine Thornton KC described him as “a kind, thoughtful and intelligent young man who has experienced significant trauma which led to a breakdown.”
She ruled that the attack stemmed from serious mental illness and ordered his continued detention for both treatment and public protection under the Mental Health Act.
The court was told that his parents had previously sought professional help for his deteriorating mental health before the attack occurred.
