Man jailed for stabbing pensioner in ‘revenge attack’

A man plunged a kitchen knife into the chest of an 81-year-old in what prosecutors described as a revenge attack after wrongly believing his victim was dating his partner, Swansea Crown Court has heard.

Peter Rees, 67, formerly of Rose Hill Terrace, Mount Pleasant, Swansea, had moved in with his girlfriend and her elderly friend after being evicted from his housing association flat for threatening a maintenance worker with a knife.

The maintenance worker incident

In March, a Beacon Cymru maintenance worker attended Rees’ flat to fix a faulty tap. The court heard Rees appeared intoxicated but was initially polite. However, whilst the worker was lying on the bathroom floor fixing the plumbing, Rees burst in carrying a large kitchen knife.

Prosecutor Craig Jones told the court the maintenance operative tried to defuse the situation but Rees made repeated threats to stab and “slice” the man. A struggle ensued in the confined bathroom space, with Rees threatening to cut off his victim’s testicles. The court heard it appeared the defendant was “enjoying the fear” he was causing. The workman eventually escaped and called police. Rees was arrested and answered “no comment” in interview before being released on bail.

Eviction and suffocation

Following the incident, Rees was evicted from his flat and went to live with his partner, who shared a three-bedroom house with an 81-year-old male friend in Mayhill. She felt sorry for him.

On July 5, whilst in bed, an argument erupted after the woman said she “needed some space” and told Rees to leave. The defendant called her a “bitch” before grabbing a pillow and pushing it down onto her face, covering her nose and mouth. The more she resisted, the harder he pushed. She eventually got free and went downstairs to her friend whilst Rees left. He was arrested, answered “no comment” in interview, and was released on bail. He was subsequently told to move out.

The stabbing

Over the following weeks, Rees made numerous visits to collect personal items. On August 8, he walked into the living room armed with a kitchen knife and bread knife and stabbed the 81-year-old man in the chest twice. He then turned to his partner and told her: “It’s your turn next,” adding that if he couldn’t stab her, he would stab her friend again. The prosecutor said Rees “then sat down on a sofa and started to laugh”.

The victim was rushed to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff in a critical condition. Doctors found two stab wounds to his chest—one of which narrowly missed his heart—along with a collapsed lung, damage to the diaphragm, and internal bleeding. He required “considerable surgical intervention” and spent a week in Cardiff before being discharged to Morriston Hospital.

A “heavily blood-stained kitchen knife” was recovered from the house. Whilst being taken to Swansea Central police station, Rees made comments to the effect that “it’s because she is sleeping with two men”. The prosecution barrister said it seemed the defendant had incorrectly assumed his partner and the man she shared a house with were in a relationship.

Previous convictions and mitigation

Rees, now of no fixed abode, had previously pleaded guilty to threatening with a bladed article in a private place, suffocation, and wounding with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm. He has two previous convictions for “relatively minor matters” from 2004 and 2006.

Defence barrister David Singh said it was “almost inexplicable” that a 67-year-old man who had hitherto “led a life of normality” should behave in this way. He suggested the combination of deteriorating mental health and “over-indulgence in alcohol” was the only plausible explanation.

Sentencing

Judge Geraint Walters described the facts as “disturbing to say the least”. He said it was clear Rees had taken to abusing substances—alcohol in particular—to the extent that he “loses all reason” and is capable of acts of serious violence.

The judge noted that after confronting the maintenance worker with a knife, Rees had gone on to suffocate his partner and then stab an 81-year-old man in the chest, missing his heart “by a whisker”. He told Rees: “The only difference between the charge he had admitted—wounding with intent—and murder is luck.”

Judge Walters agreed with the pre-sentence report’s conclusion that Rees was a dangerous offender.

With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas, Rees was given a 12-year extended sentence comprising eight years in custody followed by an extended licence period of four years. He will become eligible for parole after serving two-thirds of the custodial element.