Terrified man begged housemate to stop after waking to find him smothering him
A man was terrified when he woke up to find his housemate standing over him in the early hours and sadistically strangling him by tightening a belt around his neck, a court heard.
James Brown, 31, also tried to suffocate the man with a pillow but the terrified man begged him: "Stop – you are going to kill me." The victim tried to push his attacker away and believed he was going to die, Hull Crown Court was told.
But Brown stopped what he was doing, dialled 999 and told the emergency services: "I have just tried to kill somebody." He later said that he had "absolutely no idea" why he acted in the way that he did, the court heard.
Brown was jailed at Hull Crown Court (Hull Daily Mail/MEN Media)The attacker admitted a charge of attempted murder on September 16. Charlotte Baines, prosecuting, said that Brown and the man both lived, at the time, in the same premises in Buckingham Street, Hull, and they had known each other for about two months. They got along well but, when Brown had been drinking, his attitude would change and he would become argumentative and aggressive.
On the day of the incident, both men had been drinking cider, HullLive reports. They watched a film on TV and the other man fell asleep at 2.30am. When he woke up, he could not breathe, Ms Baines said.
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"He looked up and saw the defendant standing over him," added Ms Baines. Brown had hold of a belt and was tightening it around the man's neck. There was a look of anger on Brown's face that scared the victim. The man asked Brown to stop as he was afraid he would kill him, but since Brown kept pulling the belt tighter, the victim lost consciousness.
When he came round, he saw that Brown had a pillow, which he was pressing down on the man's face. "He felt himself losing consciousness," said Ms Baines. Brown stopped the attack and ran into the kitchen and began to cry. He telephoned 999 and said: "I have just tried to kill somebody."
He admitted strangling the man with a belt and putting a cushion on his face. When asked why he had tried to kill the man, he said: "Honestly, I have absolutely no idea." The victim did not want the police to become involved. He was taken to a Bransholme medical centre but he refused to go to Hull Royal Infirmary because he did not want to wait.
"He did obviously think that he was going to die," said Ms Baines. "There was no evidence of any long-lasting effect or significant effect." She said of Brown: "There is no evidence of any premeditation. This appears to have been a spontaneous attempt to kill. He made the call to the emergency services."
Brown was sweating heavily when police spoke to him and he seemed to be in a state of shock. He was arrested but made mainly no comment replies during the police interview, apart from saying that he was "p***ed off and upset" at the time.
He said that this was not his nature and he did not know what the trigger was, adding he could not remember why it happened. Brown had convictions for 14 previous offences between January 2016 and June last year, including assault and assaulting emergency workers.
Cathy Kioko-Gilligan, mitigating, said that Brown had been suffering from problems at the time and he had been drinking. "This was inexplicable," said Ms Kioko-Gilligan. "The defendant still has no understanding as to why he behaved in such a way. The defendant is finding it difficult to comprehend why he behaved in such a way."
Brown hoped to keep off alcohol in the future. "He appreciates that he will be in custody for some time and he will put that time to good use," said Ms Kioko-Gilligan. Judge John Thackray KC said that the victim had been in a "state of terror" at the time of the attack but Brown had shown genuine remorse. He was jailed for six years.
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