A grieving father who tried to kill a man he blamed for his son’s death has been jailed for 30 years.

Samson Price, 48, left Patrick Brown ‘millimetres from death’ after stabbing him with a machete up to 20 times outside PureGym in Northwich, Cheshire, in September 2021.

He wrongly thought Mr Brown was involved in the death of his son, Samson Price Jr, 18, who drowned in a pond in Wigan a year earlier after, it is believed, taking LSD.

Police concluded his death was an accident, but Price refused to accept it and began stalking Mr Brown after he was released without charge.

A court heard the dad used a tracking device to locate Mr Brown and lay in wait outside the gym, before raining down five to six blows in broad daylight.

He was heard screaming ‘I’ll kill you’ while his victim pleaded for mercy and said he ‘didn’t do anything’.

Mr Brown suffered wounds to his head, face, back, one of his arms and his right leg.

One of the blows severed his femur bone and only just missed a major artery, which could have killed him within minutes.

Price ran off after the attack and remained at large for three weeks before eventually handing himself in at a police station in Yorkshire.

He was later found guilty of attempted murder at his trial.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Brown said he thought he was going to die during the attack.

He said: ‘The incident has changed me massively and turned my life around completely. I no longer feel safe in public or in my home. 

‘I suffer from panic and anxiety attacks and can no longer do anything on my own. I have lost my sense of independence.

‘I used to play football with my mates, but I can no longer do those things. I have flash backs and sometimes things get too much for me and I have to go to my room and start screaming. My mother has to calm me down.’

Judge Michael Leeming said Price still posed ‘a significant risk of causing significant harm’ to Mr Brown, telling him: ‘There was no justification for you meting out your own form of summary justice. Patrick Brown was not responsible for your son’s death.’

The judge then sentenced Price to 30 years in prison, including three years on extended licence.

Following the sentencing, Detective Constable John Corrigan said: ‘This was an absolutely terrifying ordeal for the victim, and I welcome the sentence that has been handed down today.

‘While I have sympathy for Price following the death of his son, there is no excuse for the actions he took on the night of the attack.

‘Price attacked the victim from behind, leaving him totally defenceless, and specifically hit his leg to demobilise him.

‘The attack lasted just 23 seconds, but during that time we estimate that the victim was stabbed between 15 and 20 times – including multiple wounds his head, arms, and right leg.

‘I have no doubt that had it not been for the assistance provided to the victim by the public, along with the swift response of officers and paramedics, the outcome of this case could have been very different.’

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