An Inverness man who stabbed his father during a long-running family dispute over his late mother’s money has been jailed for two years.
First offender Simon Junor, 33, suspected his dad Kenneth of keeping the inheritance he thought was due to him and told police after he was arrested: “I should have done it 10 years ago.”
Solicitor advocate Mike Chapman told Inverness Sheriff Court that his client’s mother had died of cancer over a decade ago and despite repeated questioning of his father, Junor’s questions about the cash were “fobbed off”.
The row boiled over on April 5 last year when Junor went to his grandmother’s house in Fortrose where his father, who he had not spoken to for 18 months, was living.
There was a row over a missing bag, Junor went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and cut his father’s forearm in the presence of his 87-year-old grandmother.
Fiscal depute Ross Carvel told Sheriff Margaret Neilson that “blood was spurting out, Mr Junor snr felt weaker, and started shaking. He was taken to Raigmore Hospital, where he was operated on, but the injuries were not life-threatening.”
Mr Carvel added: “He did not divulge why he assaulted his father but alluded to something having happened in the past between them and that he was not ready to talk about it with the police.”
Local and Proud: Follow our new Facebook page dedicated to the Highlands and Islands
Mr Chapman said he had asked Junor about this but his client had refused to discuss it.
Junor admitted failing to appear for a court date in February, and had been remanded in custody as a result. He also pleaded guilty to assault to severe injury, permanent disfigurement and danger of life and sentence was deferred until yesterday for a background report.
Mr Chapman said: “His relationship with his father has never been good. He says it was hostile and aggressive and he felt that his father hated him. After his mother died from cancer when he was 21, his father moved out of the family home and effectively left his son to fend for himself – something that he did not have great success at.
“At the time of the offence, he had been working in the Co-op in Inverness but left after an altercation with a customer who had jumped the queue. The following day he travelled to his paternal grandmother’s house to confront his father, and foolishly took a knife, his intention being to frighten his father.”
Mr Chapman explained that after his arrest, Junor’s mental health deteriorated and that was the reason he failed to turn up for a court hearing.
Junor’s sentence was backdated to March 4, when he was remanded in custody.