Man threatened carer with knife at mother’s Neath home

A son who pulled a kitchen knife on his mother’s home carer and asked her if she wanted to die has narrowly avoided an immediate prison sentence.

Tristan Phillips confronted the care worker at his mother’s Neath Valley home on 25th July 2024, in what a judge described as “a very serious overreaction” driven by over-protectiveness.

Swansea Crown Court heard the 27-year-old came running down the stairs “aggressively” as the Neath Port Talbot Council support worker arrived to tend to his mother. Waving his arms about, Phillips shouted: “What the f*** are you doing here?!” before leaving the property.

Prosecutor Regan Walters explained that the carer prepared a meal for her client, but Phillips soon returned with his grandfather and yelled: “I don’t want you here! Get the f*** out!”

The situation escalated dramatically when the carer went to the kitchen to make a coffee. Phillips slapped the cup from her hand, pulled a knife from a drawer, raised it above his shoulder and shouted: “Do you want to f***ing die?” He then ordered her to leave and spat at her as she fled.

The terrified carer contacted her manager outside the property, and police were called. Officers arrested Phillips and seized the knife along with two bags of cannabis from the kitchen counter. In his police interview, Phillips denied picking up a knife, making threats, or spitting.

In her victim impact statement read to the court, the carer said she couldn’t stop thinking about the incident. She had installed CCTV at her own home hoping it would help her feel safer and sleep better, but it hadn’t worked. The experience had affected her work and made her anxious about attending people’s homes.

Phillips, of Empire Avenue, Blaengwrach, Neath Valley, had pleaded guilty to affray and common assault.

His defence counsel told the court that “for whatever reason” the relationship between Phillips and the carer had broken down, leading to a complaint to the council. A different staff member had been assigned to visit, but a staff shortage on the day in question meant the original carer turned up unexpectedly, shocking his client.

The court heard that Phillips had been a carer to his mother from an early age and was “overly-protective” of her. He wished he could “turn the clock back”. Following the knife incident, the council withdrew all home care support. The court also learned that Phillips’s mother has since passed away.

Judge Huw Rees acknowledged that Phillips had cared for his mother for many years and had “put her needs above yours”. However, he said the defendant’s over-protectiveness on that day led to “a very serious overreaction” which left the carer fearing for her life.

With a one-fifth discount for his guilty plea, Phillips was sentenced to 14 months in prison suspended for 18 months. He must complete a rehabilitation course and mental health treatment requirement, plus 200 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Judge Rees warned him: “You have escaped going to prison by a hair’s breadth”.

The court heard that Phillips had received a 12-month conditional discharge at Swansea Magistrates Court in July this year for possession of the cannabis police found at his house on the day of the incident. This prompted the judge to remark: “What business did magistrates have doing this?”