A 20-YEAR OLD MAN has appeared in court and been sentenced to 10 years and eight months after he cut his friends arm and then drinking his blood.
Thomas Gough, 20, invited victim Matthew Whitehurst, 34, to his room to drink vodka at Holbrook House, Cheadle, where he tried to attack his victim before cutting his arm off with a razor blade and catching the blood in a glass to drink.
It is said sadistic Gough said to his victim he ‘needed blood to survive’- before he had to vomit the blood he drank. The 20 year-old was ‘mumbling’ about vampires when he slashed Mr Whitehurst’s forearm causing a gaping wound.
After drinking the blood he was immediately sick and asked the 34-year-old victim “What medication are you on?”
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Mr Whitehurst classed Gough as a friend and on July 8 he was invited to his room for a drink at the supported housing complex where they lived. Gough’s girlfriend was also present.
Prosecutor Joanne Wallbanks said: “The defendant started to play with a knife. Mr Whitehurst asked him to put it away and the defendant tried to cut his victim’s arm but it did not cut.
“He was talking of vampires and saying he needed blood to survive. He put the knife down, took a blade out of a razor, and slashed Mr Whitehurst’s arm with it. He stuck the knife into the wall.
“He caught some of the blood in a glass and drank some. He was sick and said, ‘What medication are you on’? He put a sock on Mr Whitehurst’s arm to stem the blood.”
On his arrest Gough, who is bipolar and has alcohol and drug issues, talked about the devil and the antichrist and was talking to a ‘voice’ in front of him.
Police found the knife embedded in the wall and a glass with congealed blood inside.
The victim has had trouble sleeping since the attack and has a scar 2.5cm long.
Gough, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Catherine O’Reilly, mitigating, said: “He bitterly regrets what he has done.”
The judge said the psychiatrist who assessed Gough believes there is a ‘significant likelihood’ of similar behaviour occurring in the future. He added: “You fit the criteria of a dangerous offender.”
