A DRUNKEN teenager who humiliated a young woman with 'revenge porn' attacked his dad who feared his ear would be ripped off.
Oliver Price grabbed his 'loving and forgiving' dad by the ear and twisted it, punched him, headbutted him, threatened to kill him and brandished a kitchen knife. He tried to stop his mum calling police, launching a tirade of 'venomous' abuse and branding them 'traitors'.
Despite the attack, his parents were prepared to welcome him home when he was released from custody at Worcester Crown Court on Monday after he had spent the last eight and a half months in custody, including time in a clinic where efforts have been made to help him.
The 19-year-old, who also has an arson conviction, previously sent a revenge porn sex video to friends and struck a man with a metal bar in Worcester YMCA.
Price had already admitted the common assault on his father, Matthew Price, which took place at the family home in Teesdale Close, Droitwich on January 20 this year, placing him in breach of a suspended sentence imposed by Judge James Burbidge QC last December for disclosing private sexual photographs, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray.
Katie Fox, prosecuting, said the defendant's father noticed his behaviour was of concern and that he had been drinking, starting an argument with his dad 'about a pair of trainers'.
"All of a sudden I got a tirade of venomous abuse," said the father in a statement read out by Ms Fox.
She added: "The defendant started slapping his own face, acting as if his father was doing it."
His father told Price 'just go' at which 'the defendant grabbed his father's left ear, twisting it to the point where Mr Price thought it would come off'.
The defendant's mother also tried to intervene but Price then headbutted his father to the right eye, leaving him 'dazed and shocked'. Price also threw punches to the back of his father's head.
"His father made it clear he would not rise to his son's actions saying words to the effect of 'just go, I won't hit you back'," said Ms Fox.
Price told his father 'I'm going to kill you' and his mother warned Price that she was going to call the police. However, he knocked the phone from his mother's hand and returned to the living room with a kitchen knife with a seven inch blade which he pointed towards his father.
"His mother did call the police and the defendant dropped the knife to the floor calling his parents traitors for involving the police," said Ms Fox.
In a victim personal statement his father said: "I'm his dad and I love him but I can't take this anger and abuse anymore. I'm still shaking because of the shock."
Price said he had no memory of the incident and had 'blacked out'. The offence placed him in breach of a suspended sentence order imposed on December 9 last year (six months suspended for two years).
Price had been in custody for the assault since January 26 this year. Although Price pleaded guilty to the assault on a full facts basis, the Crown did not proceed with threats to kill so the judge was restricted in what sentence he could impose. A charge of threats to kill has a starting point of two years in prison but it was 'not pursued' by the Crown.
"The public must understand that when I come to sentence," said Judge Burbidge.
The judge, who also gave Price the suspended sentence last December, accepted that the defendant had mental health issues and sentenced him after reading a psychiatric report. This report did not identify the need to impose a medical disposal such as a hospital order.
"It appears that you have personality issues rather than any defined mental health problems," said the judge.
He imposed a 12 month community order to include up to 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days and extended the operational period of the suspended sentence by six months.
Judge Burbidge said: "Your parents are forgiving and loving. I hope you treat them with the respect they deserve when you go back to live with them. I understand they are welcoming you back."
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