Man who tried to kill his father when they first met in prison jailed
Lee Spence had had no prior contact with his father John.
A man who tried to kill his father in a “savage, premeditated and unprovoked attack” when they met for the first time in prison has been jailed for more than eight years.
Lee Spence, 25, attacked his father with a blade at HMP Perth on July 12 last year, leaving him with a wound running from his ear to his neck which needed more than 40 stitches.
Spence pleaded guilty to striking his father John Spence on the head and neck with a blade and attempting to murder him when the case called at the High Court in Edinburgh in November.
The court heard in November that Spence told prison officers he had slashed his father because of the way he had allegedly treated his mother when he was a baby, and said he had used a blade which he had flushed down a toilet.
Spence had had no prior contact with his father and the two men did not know each other at all, though were both prisoners on the same wing at the jail, the court heard.
Lord Renucci handed Spence an extended sentence comprising eight years and three months in custody and three years of supervision upon release when he appeared at the High Court in Glasgow on Friday for sentencing.
He said: “This was a savage, premeditated and unprovoked attack on your father though he was unaware of that at this time.”
The judge added: “You have shown absolutely no remorse for you actions, quite the opposite, you appear to revel in them.
“This was a genuine attempt to murder your father.”
The court heard that Spence has a number of previous convictions.
Lord Renucci told him: “If you do not do something to address your offending you are in danger of spending the majority of your life in custody, but that is up to you.”
The court previously heard that Spence’s father was treated at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee following the attack.
Gordon Martin KC, representing Spence, said on Friday that he accepted his responsibility for the offence at the earliest opportunity.
He said: “He is clearly someone who has come from a very difficult family background and he is someone who has suffered significant adverse childhood experiences.”
