Leicestershire man is jailed for plotting to kill his family

A man who plotted to kill his father, mother and brother because his parents would not lend him money has been jailed indefinitely.

Philip Bell will not be released from prison until authorities are sure he no longer poses a threat to the public, after he admitted attempting to murder his father with a 2ft-long metal bar.

Leicester Crown Court heard that when a police officer asked the 24-year-old, of Main Street, Markfield, how he felt about his family, following the attack, he answered: "If you released me it would probably be the worst decision you made in your career."

The court heard Bell had not been in touch with his parents – who live separately – for a number of months before he asked each of them for £5,000, in November 2011, to pay off debts to people he said were threatening him.

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John Hallissey, prosecuting, said both refused, but Bell turned up at his mother's home on December 12, demanding to be let in. She refused, instead meeting up with his father to discuss their son.

Mr Hallissey said Bell's father returned to his home at around 8.15pm, and discovered his son in his living room, holding a metal bar used in weightlifting.

He said: "He took a large swing and brought the bar down on his father's forehead. That caused blood to flow from his father's head and his father lost his vision temporarily in his right eye."

Mr Hallissey said Bell delivered at least two more blows, saying "It's too late dad". He said: "His father said that he knew at that point that he was fighting for his life."

While his father was on the ground, Bell punched him in the mouth and eye.

Bell told him: "You let me down, you wouldn't give me the money.

"I went round to Mum's earlier and if I could have got in I would have killed mum and my brother, and then come and killed you."

His father persuaded Bell he would give him £5,000 if he took him to hospital. The pair drove to Leicester Royal Infirmary, planning to tell medical staff his father had been mugged.

But Bell's father told nurses that Bell had caused the injuries and staff kept him in overnight.

Bell returned to the hospital the following morning and was arrested. He was carrying two 5in kitchen knives.

When asked in interview what had happened, Mr Hallissey said Bell told officers: "I made a decision that, for a combination of facts, led me to want to murder both of my parents."

The court heard he admitted to police that when he visited his mother's house earlier, he had taken the knives to kill her, and that he had intended to kill his father.

At court, he pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder.

His mother said despite her son being in prison, she has "never felt so unsafe in her life".

In mitigation, Philip Gibbs said Bell had no previous convictions and was sorry.

Judge Simon Hammond gave Bell a public protection sentence jailing him indefinitely.

He will serve a minimum of five years, and will only be released if authorities think he is no longer a danger.

Judge Hammond said the case was "profoundly disturbing".

He added: "I think it's a macabre case – how he had carefully planned to murder his mother, father and brother. It was a wicked plot."