A DISABLED father thought he was going to die when his teenage son hacked at him 15 times with a machete during a frenzied attack.

Bill Butler has spoken of the terrifying moment 19-year-old Tony rained down blows on him after threatening to “chop him to bits”.

Mr Butler, who has rheumatoid arthritis and uses a mobility scooter, went to his son’s home in Edgeworth Close, Warndon, Worcester, to check on him because he had not heard from him for several days. Mr Butler, of Langdale Close, Warndon, Worcester, rang his son’s bell but was sworn at and asked to leave before the savage attack on May 13 last year.

Tony Butler is still considered to be a danger to his father and has been ordered to remain in a secure hospital indefinitely by a judge at Worcester Crown Court, as reported in your Worcester News earlier this month.

Mr Butler said he wished to publicly challenge the comments made in court by his son’s defence solicitor, Jason Patel, that he had objected to the involvement of various agencies in his son’s care and that this is what provoked the attack.

Mr Butler, aged 53, believes he has done all he can to help his son and feels more support could have been given by social services.

He said: “He told me all the family was picking on him. I did keep ringing the bell until he came out.

“I wanted to know who was picking on him and then he came out with a machete. I knew he would use it.

"When he was younger he used to get picked on and I think it’s all coming out now.”

Mr Butler, who claims to have been attacked on five other occasions by his son, said: “I tried to calm him down. There was a young girl there with a baby and another woman who was pregnant.

"I was trying to get them to keep away.

“He cut me across the left hand. The blood was pouring down. I was trying to grab the blade off him and take the legs from under him.

"He went to hit me across the head so I put my hand up. The main blows fell across the front of my chest. He was wild.”

Mr Butler suffered a cut to his left hand and badly bruised ribs during the assault. Mr Butler said: “The CID said to my girlfriend, ‘You’re lucky you’re not seeing him in the morgue’. He was telling her I could be dead.

"He could have killed me if the machete had been sharpened properly.”

Mr Butler used a body warmer wrapped around one arm to fend off his son.

Since the attack Mr Butler has suffered repeated nightmares and depression for which he is taking medication.

But despite his ordeal Mr Butler still loves his son. He said: “I wouldn’t turn my back on my son. I would like to know how he’s getting on in the hospital.

"I would just like to know why he went for me. When he turns like that it’s like he’s in a different world.”

Tony is the youngest of Mr Butler’s five children. He says he does not have contact with Tony’s mother and is not sure whether Tony does.

The couple split up when Tony was about 10-years-old, Mr Butler said.

A spokesman for Worcestershire County Council said: “The wellbeing of residents in the county with all needs remains the highest priority for Worcestershire County Council and the council’s adult social care service works with vulnerable adults deemed in need of community care services.

“The provision of such services is to meet assessed needs and we will review circumstances wherever necessary.”