A CARER who attacked his bedridden father in a row over cannabis has been jailed.

Bradford Crown Court heard that Gavin Sharpe was living with his 66-year-old father Anthony in Halifax when he threw food in the older man’s face and then hit him several times with a metal spoon on New Year’s Day in 2023. 

The incident, described by Mrs Recorder Taryn Turner as having “an element of degradation” and “simply unacceptable”, led to her jailing him for 18 months.

She also imposed a restraining order on 46-year-old Sharpe that banned him from any contact with his father for the next five years.

Prosecutor Danielle Gilmour told the court that Sharpe had been homeless before moving in with father after the older man had suffered with a brain tumour that meant he could no longer walk and needed daily care.

The court heard Sharpe drank a lot and smoked cannabis. He took control of his father’s finances and used it to buy the drug, on which his father had become reliant.

In the early hours of January 1, Sharpe, who was eating, was angered by his father’s request to make him a cannabis joint and responded by throwing spicy food in his face. He was said to have “lost it” and then hit him several times with a metal spoon as his father begged him to stop.

Carers who visited the following morning noticed swelling and bruising with the father explaining that his son had hit him. Sharpe said the injuries had been caused accidentally.

He was arrested the same day. He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm before the matter could go to trial.

In a statement the victim said he was “heartbroken” that he had lost his son but that he felt “safer” in living alone. He said he was “scared and in shock” at his son’s behaviour.

The court heard that Sharpe had a string of offences stretching back to 1992 including for battery, common assault, and possession of an offensive weapon.

Mitigating, Saf Salam said Sharpe had been “overwhelmed” by the task of caring for his father and had “lost control of his emotions” on the day of the attack, which had been caused by frustration and isolation.

He said Sharpe, of Arnold Street, Halifax, felt guilty and had “struggled to come to terms” with what he had done.

Recorder Turner said Sharpe’s father was “a highly vulnerable victim” who was not in a position to run away or defend himself.

She added: “What you did to your poor father that day was simply disgraceful.

“I know that caring for people can be difficult and stressful, but you had outside agencies coming in to assist you.

“The way you behaved that night towards your father was simply unacceptable. It is heartbreaking in some respects that he says that he now feels safer without you in his life.”