A plastic surgeon was assaulted by a colleague in his expensive home, believing the attacker to be his son experiencing a mental health crisis.
Dr. Graeme Perks was temporarily blinded by the light from a head torch worn by a person wearing a balaclava who then proceeded to stab him in the abdomen, resulting in his hospitalization in intensive care.
The incident took place at Dr. Perks’ residence close to Southwell in Nottinghamshire, with the attacker identified as Peter Brooks, also a plastic and burns specialist. Brooks armed himself with a crowbar, petrol, matches, and a knife before attempting to take the life of Dr. Perks on January 14, 2021.
Prosecutors say the 61-year-old doused the ground floor of the property in petrol before knifing his colleague who he ‘hated’ because he was giving evidence in a work disciplinary hearing against him.
Mr Perks, who was aged 65 at the time of the attack, had only recently retired from the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, the court heard.
In a video interview which was recorded with police eight days after Mr Perks was discharged from hospital, the father-of-four said he went to bed on the night of the attack between 10pm and 11.30pm and lived with his wife Beverley and youngest son Henry.
He told detectives: ‘At some unknown time I heard a loud noise, it was sufficient to wake me. It was really unusual.
Jurors were told Graeme Perks (pictured) only survived the 8cm deep wound, which entered beneath his right rib cage, thanks to ‘quick action and amazing surgical skill’
Peter Brooks, 61, (pictured in December, 2015) had armed himself with 20 litres of a highly flammable petrol mix, matches, a crowbar and a kitchen knife before cycling to fellow plastic surgeon Graeme Perks’ house, jurors were told
Police and forensics at a property in Southwell as they investigate the stabbing of Graeme Perks in his home in Halam, Nottinghamshire on January 15 2021
‘When I heard that bang I thought something seriously wrong was happening in the house. We live in a place that’s really quiet.
‘To hear a noise like that signified something serious was going on.
‘It was a loud bang. I thought, “somebody’s trying to break in”. I simply leapt out of bed. Didn’t waste time looking at the clock. I am a fairly light sleeper – if I do hear something it will wake me up.
‘I recall jumping out of bed – I sleep naked – and I recall running down the stairs into the drawing room and my recollection was there appeared to be a huge hole in the left hand door of the conservatory.
‘I thought I smelt something unusual but wasn’t really with it. I vaguely recall my feet being damp.
‘I saw a figure in the garden wearing dark clothing with their back to me.’
Mr Perks thought the figure was his son Henry because he had the same ‘big, solid’ build, and in his confusion thought his son was ‘having a mental breakdown’.
He said: ‘I have no reason for him to do that because he has been perfectly normal for 29 years – my brain was trying to rationalise it.’
The court heard Brooks cycled to Mr Perks’ home near Southwell in Nottinghamshire in the early hours of January 14 2021
Mr Perks, who was aged 65 at the time of the attack, had only recently retired from the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, the court heard
Mr Perks told detectives he said ‘what the hell is going on Henry?’ to the figure, who turned around, but the victim could not see their face because they had a headlight on and he thought they might be wearing a balaclava.
The doctor added: ‘Nothing was said, and the next thing I remember was feeling a blow to my body.
‘I put my hands to the area where I felt it and it was warm and sticky, and I thought I felt something poking out from my abdomen and I decided that I must have been stabbed, and that I needed to get back to the house.
‘I turned back towards the house then I don’t remember anything that happened after that.
‘I was totally confused as to what was going on. Nothing was said.
‘I don’t remember it being painful at all, I just remember it was a blow. My last recollection is just turning back to the house. I have no recollection of where I ended up at all.’
Mr Perks was in intensive care for eight days and in hospital the following three weeks, during which he had ‘hallucinations’ and said ‘some of it must come from the recollection of the smell of petrol’ but also he had been given lots of drugs, the court heard.
Mr Perks, also a plastic surgeon at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, was found by his wife and son and taken to hospital where he was placed in an induced coma after losing six litres of blood
Brooks, a consultant plastic surgeon who specialised in burns, was found asleep with a badly bleeding hand around four hours after the attack on a garden bench and was arrested in hospital after the concerned homeowner called an ambulance.
The 61-year-old is not attending his trial and chose not to be legally represented, denies two counts of attempted murder, attempted arson with intent to endanger life, and possession of a knife in a public place.
The trial continues.
