Father 'lucky to be alive' after frenzied knife attack in his home by delusional Castleford son
Man feared he was dying as blood poured from his neck.
A step father feared he would die after his son launched at him with a kitchen knife, stabbing him multiple times to the neck and torso.
With blood “spurting” from his neck, he was transferred to hospital by ambulance, forced to undergo emergency surgery and put on a ventilator.
His step son, Craig Sanderson, was convinced his mother and step dad were trying to kill him - a symptom of his previously-diagnosed schizophrenia.
The 39-year-old was detained under the Mental Health Act and given a hospital order at Leeds Crown Court, meaning he will be kept at a secure hospital for treatment.
Sanderson had called police on October 11, 2024, making claims that his parents were trying to put poison in his food.
The police offered to take him to the hospital, but he declined. It later transpired he had not taken his much-needed medication for around six months.
That evening he got home on Wood Green in Castleford and had made himself a Pot Noodle and a coffee and went and sat in the lounge where his step father was.
Losing his temper, he threw the coffee at the man, then Sanderson got up again and went into the kitchen. He grabbed a knife and returned to attack the man.
He stabbed him six times to the throat, head, body and leg.
Prosecutor Nick Adlington said blood had been “spurting” from his throat wound. When his wife entered the room, she immediately dialled 999. The victim feared he was dying.
In a victim impact statement, read out by Mr Adlington, the man said he “felt lucky to be alive” but was still living in “excruciating pain”.
Mr Adlington added: “He feels like he will never recover from it. He has so many unanswered questions. Why did he leave him to die?
“He does not believe he will get the answers he deserves. He knows he needs to move on but lives in fear.”
The court heard that after the attack, Sanderson left the property. He was arrested the following day after he withdrew cash from an ATM, which flagged up his location to officers.
He made admissions during interview, that he feared his parents were trying to kill him, along with the police. He admitted he would have stabbed his mother had she been in the room at the time.
Giving evidence during the hearing, a psychiatrist confirmed Sanderson has schizophrenia with persecutory delusions and auditory hallucinations.
She said since being detained he had responded to treatment but it was necessary to continue, so recommended a hospital order for him to be detained. She said a bed was available for him at the secure unit of Newton Lodge in Wakefield.
The judge, the Recorder of Leeds, Guy Kearl KC opted to give him a Section 37 hospital order with Section 41 restrictions.
This means Sanderson is detained in a psychiatric unit rather than prison, and his eventual release can only be sanctioned by the secretary of state.