A man tried to murder his housebound father by suffocating him with his wheelchair cushion after telling him: “I am here to help you out of your s***** life.”
Jamie Boyd was disturbed in the attack after the victim’s community alarm was activated when it fell to the floor during a struggle and a call handler made contact.
Emergency care staff attended George Boyd’s home in Leven, in Fife, and found the 66-year-old lying on his bed, struggling to breathe and visibly upset and shaken.
Advocate depute Jo McDonald told the High Court in Edinburgh: “He stated to them that his son had just tried to suffocate him with his wheelchair cushion.”
The court heard that during the attack “the infinitely weaker” stroke victim father had tried to struggle with his son but feared he would lose consciousness.
Mr Boyd was taken to hospital suffering from shortness of breath and police traced his son to a house in Kennoway where he told them he had taken Valium and the tranquiliser Xanax.
His unemployed son, of Den Walk, Methil, in Fife, subsequently appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court and at a second appearance was granted bail, despite opposition from the Crown.
Four months later he staged a robbery armed with a hammer on a lone worker at a service station in nearby Leven.
Jamie Boyd admitted attempting to murder his father after attending at his address uninvited on March 16 this year, when he appeared at court on Friday.
He threatened to end his victim’s life, pushed him on the body causing him to fall onto a bed and pressed the cushion onto his face, restricting his breathing to the danger of his life.
Boyd (33) also admitted assaulting Alex Vijay with his face masked on July 31 this year at the BP garage at Windygates Road, Leven, by brandishing a hammer, struggling with him, demanding that he open a till and robbing him of pounds 626.50. He was granted bail ahead of the offence on March 26.
Ms McDonald told the court that Boyd’s father suffered a stroke in May 2017 and as a result had very little mobility on his left-hand side and was housebound.
The prosecutor said: “He needs a walking stick to move around his home, his meals are delivered to him daily and he has a home help for daily tasks.”
As a result of his mobility and health issues Mr Boyd senior had a community alarm fitted at his home.
The prosecutor said that in the early hours of March 16 he was in bed when he heard noises coming from his living room.
Ms McDonald said: “He thought it sounded like someone looking through his belongings and instantly thought it could be the accused, given that he knew the code for the door key safe.
“The complainer attempted to get out of bed, when the accused opened his bedroom door,” she said.
The father asked his son what he was doing there and received the reply: “I am here to help you out of your s***** life.”
The son was holding a cushion used by his father to sit on a sofa and on his wheelchair. He pushed Mr Boyd senior backwards onto the bed and forced the cushion into his face, covering his nose and mouth.
The prosecutor said: “The complainer was frightened and panicking. He was struggling, trying to get the accused off him but due to his previous stroke could only use one side of his body to do this and was infinitely weaker than the accused.”
“During the struggle the corner of the pillow was pushed into his mouth and he thought he would lose consciousness.”
“The complainer’s community alarm was sitting next to his bed on top of his walking stick and this fell to the ground during the struggle, causing the alarm to activate,” she said.
A call handler made contact, disturbing the son who left his father’s house by the back door. Mr Boyd senior was found to have grazes, red marks and a bloodshot right eye after the attack by his son.
Following the son’s arrest he was seen by a psychiatrist and was deemed fit to appear in court.
Boyd later carried out the armed robbery before fleeing from the garage on a mountain bike with cash from a till.
Following a police media release about the robbery Boyd’s mother attended a police station and said she believed her son was the male responsible for the offence.
Officers attended his address in Methil and found him apparently heavily under the influence of drugs. A total of £264 of cash was recovered.
Boyd sat with his head in his hands as he followed court proceedings via a video link to Perth prison on Friday.
The judge, Lord Fairley, adjourned the case until January 7 at the High Court in Glasgow for sentence, pending the preparation of a background report on Boyd.
