Narre Warren man loses plot with elderly parents in desperate bid for TV remote
A 45-year-old man grabbed and abused his mum and brandished a steak knife in failed attempts to get hold of the remote in their Narre Warren lounge room, a court has heard.
South East
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A son high on sleeping pills who abused his elderly parents in a family fight over a TV remote control has been told to sort out his anger issues.
Peter Anthony Sourbutts lost the plot after taking medication, grabbing his mother by the arm and abusing his dad, both of whom are aged in their 70s, the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court heard on May 1.
Sourbutts, 45, also picked up a knife and threatened self-harm under the influence of potent prescription pills.
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The court heard the 45-year-old had started out happily sitting with his mother on the couch in the Narre Warren home they shared on August 22 last year.
Sourbutts demanded she give him the TV remote control, then grasping and bruising her arm in an attempt to prise the device away.
He then abused her, calling her a “whore”, before walking away.
Sourbutts’ mother then rang his dad to tell him their son had “gone mad”.
He came home to find Sourbutts with a steak knife in his hand, waving it about, yelling and threatening self-harm.
Sourbutts dropped the knife after police arrived, and was taken to hospital for a mental health assessment.
In court Sourbutts’ defence lawyer said their client’s behaviour was “out of character” and a one-off.
The lawyer said the outburst was likely to have been some type of psychotic insomnia pill-induced episode.
Sourbutts, a disability pensioner, has a long rap sheet of criminal offending with 13 pages of priors, mostly for drug offences.
Magistrate Tara Hartnett said the loungeroom eruption was a nasty incident.
“It was a bizarre dispute over a remote (that) escalated to production of a knife,” Ms Hartnett said.
“I accept there was no lunging or assertion you were trying to hurt anyone (but yourself).
“But it would have been terrifying for your parents, who have long supported you.”
Sourbutts was given a 12-month community corrections order with conditions he undertake drugs and mental health counselling and complete men’s behaviour and anger management programs.