Dad stabs his own sons after they call out his homophobia and transphobia in drunken Boxing Day row
A South Yorkshire man has been jailed after stabbing both of his sons on Boxing Day when they called out his homophobia and transphobia.
According to Yorkshire Live, Robert Mitchell, 48, spent the evening drinking with his wife and sons at his home on 26 December, 2020
The family began to discuss LGBT+ rights, but Mitchell began using transphobic and homophobic language, and claiming that he didn’t like or understand these “types of people”, Yorkshire Crown Court heard.
When one of the sons called him out for his language, saying he had gay and trans friends, the other son agreed and called Mitchell and his wife “c**ts”.
Prosecutor Eddison Flint told the court: “There was then a confrontation between the defendant and his son.
“The pair then began to fight resulting in a grapple, the pair ending up on the floor.
“Once they had gotten up again, the defendant, who was noted by his son to be a strong man who has previously trained in jujitsu, then picked the complainant up and slammed him to the ground causing pain to his back.”
When it seemed the fight was over, Robert Mitchell stood up and walked into the kitchen. However, he soon returned with a kitchen knife.
When asked to put it back, he stabbed one of his sons in the chest and the torso. His other son tried to hold back his stepmother, but Mitchell then turned on him and stabbed him four times, this time in his chest and armpit.
The two sons fled, escaping to a neighbour’s house to ask for help, before being taken to hospital.
One of them spent three nights in hospital, with one of the stab wounds close to his heart.
The court heard that while one of the sons was willing to heal the relationship with his father after the stabbing, he quickly changed his mind when Mitchell tried to blame his other son for the incident.
Mitchell pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful wounding, and will spend a year and nine months behind bars.