A violent son angrily grabbed his terrified mother around the neck and started choking her after demanding that she hand over money so that he could feed his desperate "craving" for drugs.
Serial criminal Thomas Hughes turned nasty and repeatedly demanded cash from his parents despite them not having any cash to spare. He later angrily threatened to splash petrol around their home, Hull Crown Court heard.
Hughes, 40, formerly of Pickering Crescent, off Hessle Road, west Hull, admitted offences of intentional strangulation on December 28 and assault and threatening to damage property on December 29.
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Nigel Clive, prosecuting, said that Hughes began demanding cash from his parents but they could not give him any because they did not have any money spare. They asked him to leave their home but he refused to do so and there was an argument that turned physical.
"He grabbed his mother's neck and began to choke her," said Mr Clive. "Her eyes watered and she felt like her eyes were rolling back in her head. It was deeply unpleasant."
Hughes left but he later again demanded money. "His parents were telling him that they didn't have any," said Mr Clive.
The mother tried to speak to the man who gave drugs to Hughes. Her son returned to the house and he was angry with her. He called her a "grass" and a "rat" before forcefully grabbing her and pushing her around the kitchen. He threatened to splash petrol around.
There was an argument between Hughes and his brother, who called the police. They arrived and arrested Hughes. He later admitted that there had been an argument about drugs.
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Hughes had convictions for 81 previous offences, half of them for theft, but one for violence in 2018. He had offences from December of possessing an offensive weapon and interfering with a vehicle. He was in breach of a 14-week suspended sentence imposed by Hull magistrates.
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John Dunning, mitigating, said that the mother had confirmed that, when Hughes strangled her, he did not restrict her breathing. "This is a desperately sad case," said Mr Dunning.
"It brings home the damage that drug suppliers do. The altercation was wholly due to this man's desperate need for money to get the drugs that he craves.
"He has destroyed his relationship with his parents. They still love him and I suspect that he still loves them. That's the situation he now has to face."
The offences were illustrations of the desperation that Hughes had at the time to satisfy his craving for drugs. He had been in custody for about eight months.
Judge Tahir Khan KC told Hughes: "You went to your mother and father's home and there was an incident in which you put your hands around your mother's neck. That was an unpleasant thing to do and it left your mother, no doubt, feeling upset. The following day, there was some further misbehaviour."
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Hughes was jailed for 16 months but, because he had been in custody on remand, he was released shortly afterwards. He was given a five-year restraining order.