Man tried to kill neighbour's mum with pickaxe in front of terrified child

A man tried to kill his neighbour’s mum with a pickaxe as a long-running dispute turned violent.

John Hughes, 63, bludgeoned the woman, 43, in what a judge said were like scenes from an Alfred Hitchcock film.

A child in the street at the time witnessed the attack on September 29 last year.

Hughes had a string of “difficulties” with neighbours at his block of flats in Uddingston over the years.

This included a previous assault conviction, which saw him spared jail in 2013.

The victim’s daughter had latterly lived below Hughes with her family.

She had made several reports to police about Hughes, while he had made countercomplaints about alleged noise levels.

Hughes had lived alone at his upstairs flat, where he had stayed for 40 years.

Prosecutor Naomei Warner told the court: “[The woman and her mother] reported the behaviour of Hughes to police on numerous occasions.

“This was for conduct such as staring in their window, making gestures and also keeping hold of parcels delivered to him by mistake.

“Hughes repeatedly complained of noise from the downstairs flat.”

Charges that prosecutors accepted not guilty pleas for included a claim he had “drew his finger across his neck in a threatening manner” towards the woman in late 2021.

He also allegedly dumped rubbish on the woman’s doorstep.

On the day of the attack, Hughes had initially been mowing the lawn outside the flats.

The victim parked her car and then yelled over at Hughes who then appeared to “goad” the mum.

Ms Warner said: “He was shouting ‘come here then’ whilst picking up a pickaxe he had retrieved from his home and holding it.”

As the woman then walked up the path, Hughes stormed towards her.

The advocate depute explained: “He repeatedly struck her on the head and body with the pickaxe and continued to do while she was on the ground for a couple of minutes.”

Harrowing CCTV footage from that afternoon was played in court.

Most of the attack was not captured, but Ms Warner described how the victim and a young witness in the street could both be heard “screaming in terror”.

She added: “A shadow on the grass becomes apparent and the actions of Hughes holding the pickaxe with both hands over his head and making a striking movement towards the ground can be seen.”

Hughes then calmly walked back to the front door of the flat and lay the blood-stained weapon on top of a wheelie bin.

It was Hughes who dialled 999, confessing he had attacked the victim and “she looked like she was dying”.

The woman’s daughter returned to her home and was met with the sight of her stricken mum on her hands and knees.

Mercy crews soon arrived and Hughes again said to police he was responsible.

This included him stating: “I done it several times.” He also claimed the victim had initially “tried to threaten” him and had made a remark about his son.

Ms Warner said: “He fully admitted striking her multiple times with the pickaxe.

“He said he only stopped due to the mass of blood on her face. He added he ‘did not think it was his intention to kill her’.”

Hughes stated he had lived in his flat for 40 years and claimed to have neighbour issues for 20 of them.

The court heard the victim had “significant wounds” to her face and head, including a badly fractured jaw which needed screws fitted to repair.

The traumatised mum remains troubled by the “life-changing” effect of her ordeal.

She had been diagnosed with PTSD, needs counselling, and now rarely leaves the house unless necessary.

It is also expected she will require further surgery on the left side of her face.

The young witness who saw the attack has suffered nightmares and needed additional support at school.

Hughes also had previous convictions for assault with an axe and another involving a child.

The court was told Hughes appeared “fixated by problems” he believed his neighbours had caused through the years.

His KC Tony Graham said “this sort of ideation” was “absolutely real” in Hughes’s mind and “cannot be shifted”.

Sentencing, Lord Arthurson stated: “The footage played in court was highly disturbing. It was indeed horrific to the point of being almost Hitchcockian.”

Hughes has now been jailed for 11 years after he pled guilty to an attempted murder charge at the High Court in Glasgow.

He will also be monitored for four years on his release.