Newquay man beat mum to a pulp with wooden sword while she slept

A woman, who was beaten with a wooden sword by her own son while she slept was so badly injured she looked like she had been in a car crash, a court heard. The mum was woken by the brutal beating and was heard screaming for help by neighbours.

Kai Pink, 26, from Pendeen Place in Pargolla Road, Newquay, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding with a view to cause grievous bodily harm. He changed his plea to guilty when he appeared for the first day of what had been scheduled as a three-day trial at Truro Crown Court today (Monday, April 29).

Ryan Murray, prosecuting, told the court how on November 12 last year, Pink went to his mother's address following a night out with friends. He went into her home and walked to her bedroom upstairs where his mother slept. It was then that he repeatedly hit her with a black wooden sword.

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Pink's mother woke up in agony and terror as her own son was beating her and was heard by neighbours screaming for help as she tried to flee and escape the blows. The court was told how Pink chased his mum down the stairs and out the house and continued to pummel her with his wooden sword.

Mr Murray said that in their witness statements some of the neighbours described her screams as "life or death screams" as Pink's mother shouted for help. Alerted by the horrific screams, several neighbours in the small close came out of their homes. Two of them managed to restrain Pink while others, including a paramedic living in the street, attended to Pink's mum's medical needs.

Mr Murray told the court that police and ambulance attended and Pink's mother was first taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske in Truro before being transferred to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth. He said: "She was treated in hospital for a catalogue of injuries.

"She had wounds to her head and hand. Her right elbow was fractured and she had three broken ribs and a punctured lung. One of the neighbours said she resembled someone who had been in a car crash."

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Mr Murray added: "Mr Pink's mother had been asleep when her own son attacked her and as she tried to flee he kept beating her on the back of the head, her back and shoulders as she did so. There were trails of blood found in her house going from her bedroom, down the stairs, to the back of the house."

The prosecutor said Pink's motivations for the attack had been strange, and he alleged to the police that his mum had told him to kill himself. After being arrested, Pink at first refused all legal aid and advice that was being offered to him, telling officers he was guilty for what he did and there was no point. In interviews he later said that he had been out to the pub and was so drunk he had no memory of the events between leaving the pub and ending up in police custody.

Ramsay Quaife, defending, told the court that Pink is a man with no previous convictions who drank too much as a way to cope with childhood trauma. He said Pink, who has been on remand since the attack, had written a letter to the court "not as a way to manipulate the court" but to explain himself.

Mr Quaife added: "He has mental health issues. He previously said it was not him that night but there has been some realisation that it was him but he wanted to say this is not the true him. There has now been full acceptance of what he has done. He is deeply ashamed and remorseful. There has been a journey for him to realise that it was him that night. There is remorse but as to what motivated him it's not clear.

"This is someone who has been misusing substances against early life trauma. He has been on remand for more than five months and he has engaged with everything that has been offered to him. He has taken responsibility for himself. There has been that realisation that he has to make that decision himself and get on with it."

His Honour Judge Simon Carr said Pink's depressive state was not relevant to what he did but being drunk was. He told Pink: "You took against your own mother. Your reaction was terrifying. You went into her house and beat her repeatedly while she slept. That was sustained and caused multiple injuries to her body.

"She would have woken up terrified being beaten by her own son. I accept the challenges you have been dealing with. There is remorse but greater remorse would have been seen by a much earlier guilty plea." Judge Carr said there were many aggravating factors in this case, including alcohol, the domestic setting as well as the seriousness of the injuries inflicted.

Pink was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and will serve two thirds before he is eligible for parole.