An Invercargill man gave his estranged father a prolonged beating for "abandoning him", leaving the carpet soaked in blood, a court has heard.
Jayden William George, 33, was sentenced in the Invercargill District Court last week for wounding with intent to injure and threatening to kill his father in June.
George was estranged from the victim, 55, after he moved to Auckland as a young child.
On the evening of June 28, the 55-year-old was at home playing video games when he heard a knock at the back door, the police summary said.
He opened it to his angry adult son who pushed him back into the brick wall behind.
The victim then retreated to sit in a lounge chair in the corner of the room where his attacker punched him repeatedly in the face.
His son also kicked him twice in the head, accusing him of trying to poison him when he was young and saying he had promised him a motorbike.
George told his father he would kill and bury him in the backyard if he called the police.
Before leaving, the man told the victim he was worthless and asked for a lift home.
After the attack, the father, afraid to call the authorities, locked the door, went to bed and slept for 13 hours.
Two days later he went to Southland Hospital with a fractured left eye socket, which required surgery, as well as another facial fracture, severe bruising to the face, a split lip and a chipped tooth.
When police visited the address, the carpet in front of the lounge chair was covered in blood.
In the days after the attack, George texted his father to apologise, citing alcohol and anger at his father’s absence as reasons for the random attack.
"So sorry about the beating I gave u I was soo drunk and angry at u for not even tryn to be in my life dad I should [not] have done wat I done but u dd deserve sum of it and I really hope you it makes u think about how hurt the brothers and I are" (sic) he wrote.
He texted his father twice more saying he "hated what drunk Jayden did" and offered to bring round some paua.
The court heard the man was under the influence of alcohol, ecstasy and cannabis during the attack and claimed he was unable to remember it.
When Judge Duncan Harvey read out the details of the assault, the man hung his head.
Judge Harvey expressed his dismay that George said in a report he had successfully overcome a methamphetamine addiction at the age of 31 but continued to use other drugs.
"You chose to drink alcohol, you chose to do drugs," the judge said.
Judge Harvey also pointed out the irony of the given reason for the attack when the defendant had young children of his own.
"Rather ironic that you were very angry at your father because he abandoned you, but you’ve got four children," he said.
He sentenced him to nine months’ home detention and 240 hours of community work.
