JAILED: Brierley Hill pall bearer who knifed son of deceased in chest
A pall bearer who knifed the son of the woman whose coffin he had just carried has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.
Simon Hughes stabbed Adam Hipkiss, the brother of his estranged partner, in the chest after downing around 20 pints at the wake.
The 36-year-old security guard 'had words' with his former girlfriend before leaving the wake at the Blue Brick Inn on Planet Road, Brierley Hill. He then went to her nearby family home, damaged the windows before collecting four kitchen knives and heading back to the pub.
Hughes was in the street with a knife in each hand when he came face to face with Mr Hipkiss and another mourner, James Trevelan, who had both just left the wake. He told them to 'prepare to die'.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard this week how the pair persuaded him to drop the knives before Mr Hipkiss tried to detain him - unaware he had two other knives in his pockets.
Mr Howard Searle, prosecuting, explained: "There was a fight during which Mr Hipkiss was stabbed in the chest leaving a V-shaped wound. Thankfully the knife did not penetrate the chest cavity and it was not a very serious wound."
Mr Trevelan also received a minor cut to the hand trying to intervene and was soon joined by other members of the family of the deceased who held Hughes down until police arrived.
Mr John Evans, defending, said the stress of the funeral combined with anti-depressant tablets and a large amount of alcohol had combined to drastically alter the character of Hughes.
He said: "He had not demonstrated violence in the past but became a changed man. What he did was wholly wrong and he acknowledges that."
Hughes from Orchard Street, Brierley Hill, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent, assault, possession of a bladed article and criminal damage at the wake on January 26.
Judge Amjad Nawaz told him: "Something must have happened at the wake where you had had far too much to drink. You left the pub knowing that others were to leave soon afterwards, got into your father-in-law's house, picked up a number of knives and left.
"There was a confrontation at night in public during which you stabbed the brother of your former partner, and son of the deceased, in the chest. The injury suffered was not serious but you must be sentenced for the intention you had when you wielded the knife."