A Lismore man has admitted violently bashing his elderly parents at their Mount Pleasant home before trying to set it on fire.
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Mathew Charles Welch, 47, entered guilty pleas in Wollongong District Court yesterday to two charges of causing grievous bodily harm (with intent to cause grievous bodily harm), stemming from the incident in April this year.
In an earlier court appearance by Welch, police said he repeatedly bashed the couple, both aged 83, in their Rose Parade home in the early hours of April 6.
The attack left his parents with horrific injuries including bleeding on the brain, spine fractures and head lacerations.
The court was told that an intoxicated and injured Welch arrived at Wollongong Hospital about 6.10am on April 6, allegedly telling staff: "I f---ed my parents up ... [I] bashed them badly".
Staff called police, giving them an address supplied by Welch.
Officers who arrived at the house found the man's mother unconscious in the lounge room and his father crying for help. Both had extensive head wounds.
Police said the house looked to have been ransacked and it appeared Welch had tried to set fire to the property before he left.
According to police, the male victim told police that Welch, the couple's adopted son, had returned home about three or four days before the attack.
The man said he had gone to bed about 8.30pm on April 5, leaving his son and wife watching television in the lounge room.
He told police he awoke later that night to the sounds of his wife screaming, and allegedly found her lying on the ground with facial injuries.
"He [the male victim] states [that] over the next few hours his wife and himself were assaulted continually by punching and kicking," the police statement read.
"He was struck with a bottle of spirits to the head area. The victim states ... at one point, he [Welch] got a knife and a small sword and threatened to kill them.
"This continued until the early hours of the morning."
Welch was arrested and taken to Wollongong police station, where he was charged with two counts of maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent to murder.
He pleaded guilty yesterday to the lesser charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm.
He will return to court in March for sentencing.
