A spade wielding attacker has been jailed for a 'savage and sustained' assault on a stepfather who he blamed for his miserable childhood in the care system.
Andrew Eveleigh was like 'a demon possessed' as he used a garden spade and pickaxe handle to inflict cuts on the head of victim Nigel Young he have left him scarred for life.
He tried to stop his disabled mother from calling for help by tipping her out of her wheelchair in what a Judge described as 'a scene of hellish savagery' at the family home in Bideford.
Eveleigh had been taken into care after his mother suffered a stroke when he was three and grew up in 18 different foster homes and a series of special schools.
The victim Mr Young married his mother and devoted more than a decade of his life to being her full time carer, Exeter Crown Court was told.
Eveleigh had been ordered to stay away from the family home after having caused trouble in the past and stolen money to buy drugs.
He defied the ban in April this year and tensions exploded into violence after his mother caught him heating up drugs in a glass in the kitchen.
He dropped the glass but then lost his temper when Mr Young threw away the remains because he was desperate to recover the residue of drugs from the side of it.
Eveleigh, aged 20, of Allhalland Street, Bideford, admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent and was jailed for eight years in a Young Offenders' Institution by Recorder Mr Simon Levene.
He told him:"You have had a very difficult and unhappy life, which nobody would wish on anyone. However, you have committed a very shocking crime.
"This was a savage and sustained assault using several weapons as well as jumping, stamping and punching while others tried to pull you away.
"You tried to prevent police being called by whipping out the phone line and removing the batteries from your mother's mobile phone. You even tipped your own mother out of her wheelchair to prevent her calling the police.
"This was a scene of hellish savagery. It is very lucky the victim's injuries were not worse than they are but they were terrible cuts which had to be treated under general anaesthetic.
"I have read the victim impact statement and whatever you think about him, and for all I know you are still glad you did what you did, he has been physical and mentally scarred for life."
Mr Stephen Dent, prosecuting, said the victim was married to Eveleigh's mother Sandra Young, who is wheelchair bound as a result of a brain haemorrhage in 1997.
Eveleigh did not live at home and never got on well with Mr Young. He had been excluded from the house in Stella Maris Court by a police notice after complaints of disorder and stealing.
He kept returning and was at the house when the attack happened on April 6 when he became angry about Mr Young clearing up a broken glass before he could try to recover traces of drugs from it.
He punched Mr Young to the ground, jabbed him in the head with a pickaxe handle, beat his head with a garden spade, jumped and stamped on his head.
Mr Dent said:"Eveleigh's mother was screaming for him to stop. She says he was like a demon possessed and looked as if he was trying to murder her husband on the floor.
"She tried to call the police but he pulled the phone out of the wall and took the battery out of her mobile phone. He tipped her out of her wheelchair."
Another man at the house tried to stop the attack and helped Mrs Young back into her wheelchair. They fled to the back garden where they raised the alarm by shouting to neighbours.
Mr Young suffered numerous deep cuts to his head and severe bruising all over his face and body and needed an emergency operation to stem the bleeding.
Mr Gareth Evans, defending, said:"He spent his childhood at 18 different foster or care homes and developed a festering resentment against Mr Young.
"He has views about his motivation for being with his mother, whether they are right or wrong. He has held these views for some time but there was no real trigger for this explosion of his resentment."
