Glasgow man jailed for stabbing mum who told him to clean his flat

A man who stabbed his mum in a frenzied attack after she told him to clean his flat has been jailed for six years and eight months.

26 year-old Daryl Howard yelled “I want you dead” as he repeatedly knifed 51 year-old Eleanor and tried to smother her with a pillow.

She begged him to think of her two grandchildren, but Howard told her: “I don't care I want you dead.”

Mrs Howard pleaded again with her son saying: “Please Daryl I don't want to die.”

Police were called by neighbours who heard Mrs Howard's screams.

Howard, 26, admitted attempting to murder his mother at his flat in Mannering Court, Glasgow, on October 20, last year.

Yesterday at the High Court in Glasgow judge Lady Rae told first offender Howard: “This was a very brutal and persistent attack. It was clear you were intent on killing her. If it was not for the the arrival of the police and paramedics you could be facing a murder charge. Her injuries were so severe she had to be resuscitated.

“Your explanation for the attack was that your mother was hassling you about the state of your flat. I have no doubt you were in some sort of mental distress at the time.”

Lady Rae described the murder bids as 'brutal and senseless' and ordered Howard to be monitored in the community for four years after his release from prison.

Prosecutor Duncan McPhie told the court that Mrs Howard, 51, made her weekly visit to see her son and let herself in with her key.

She arrived between 3.30pm and 3.45pm and shouted “Daryl where are you.” Her son's response was to shout at her “F*** off.”

The flat was a mess with bottles and household waste lying all around. When she complained about the mess Howard told her again to “F*** off.”

She began to tidy up the flat and then saw her son holding a knife in his right hand.

He walked towards her and repeatedly stabbed her on the neck.

She fell to the ground and Howard started stabbing her on the back, before trying to suffocate her.

Two days later Howard handed himself in at Govan Police Station and confessed to trying to murder his mother.

He told detectives he was angry his mother had let herself into his flat and even more annoyed when she criticised the state of it.

Howard said he stabbed his mother “more than twice, but fewer than 10 times,” and added: “I'm sorry.”

Defence counsel Susan Duff said: “He is ashamed of his actions that day. He is refusing to see any family members. It appears he has done such a bad thing, he can't face members of his family who love him because he can't explain why he did this.”

The court heard that Howard was seriously assaulted when he was 16 and suffered behavioral changes and had anger issues, but was never previously violent towards a family member.