Thug, 50, slashed his stepson with a 15-inch machete and left him fearing he was going to bleed to death in bitter inheritance row

• WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT 
• Scott Bass, 29, needed surgery after being hacked by stepfather Mark Kilpatrick
• Pair had heated row over who would inherit his mother’s home when she died 

A thug slashed his stepson with a 15-inch machete and left him fearing he was going to bleed to death during a bitter inheritance row. 

Scott Bass, 29, needed seven staples in his head and had slices in his arm after Mark Kilpatrick, 50, repeatedly hacked him with a Gurkha-style military blade following a heated row over who would get his mother’s house when she dies.    

He was rushed to hospital where he underwent surgery to reattach the muscle on his arm, stitch his slashed open thumb and insert staples on his head wound.

The legal consultant, from Darlington, Durham, says he has never received an apology from his stepfather for almost ‘killing me’, who is nine months into a four year and eight months prison term. 

Mr Bass is not talking to his mother, who remains married to Mr Kilpatrick, but he said he takes satisfaction in knowing his stepfather is behind bars while he is enjoying going abroad on holiday.   

The pair had been discussing who was entitled to inherit Mr Bass’s mother’s home in Darlington last January when the argument turned violent.

Mr Kilpatrick fetched a machete from Shearwater Avenue house’s garage and slashed his stepson three times.

Mr Bass says he thought he was going to die in the attack and still questions what brought on the unexpected act of violence.

He said: ‘Mark was just being really strange and aggressive. We got into an argument about the ownership of the house. I can’t remember how it got brought up.

‘My grandparents used to own that house – it’s never been his house. He seemed to think it was his house and he should be able to give it to his children.’

Mr Bass had gone to bed following the ‘big’ row but came downstairs to get his phone charger when he was confronted by his machete-wielding stepfather.   

‘I was in disbelief, thinking “you cannot be serious” over an argument like this,’ he said.

‘He’d got it from the garage – I didn’t even know there was one there. He tried to hit me with the machete but I put my arm up above my head which is how I got a big scar on my arm.

‘Then he tried to hit me in the head again which is where he hit my thumb. It was pretty bad when it did make contact because it was a big machete.

‘I thought “he’s trying to kill me”.’

A blood-soaked Mr Bass managed to get back upstairs and put his head into the bath which was ‘just pouring with blood’. 

He said: ‘He’s ruined his life and my mam’s life too for being so stupid… He deserved everything he got.

‘His sentence isn’t that long considering he tried to kill someone with a machete.

‘I’ve still not got an apology off him. But there’s certain milestone events that make me happy like when I was on holiday and remembered he’s in a cell.

‘I feel really lucky. One movement of my head the wrong way and that would’ve been it.’

Nearly a year on since the attack, Mr Bass’s brother Damien has launched a fundraiser in aid of EDGE NE – an organisation dedicated to supporting young people affected by criminal exploitation and serious youth violence.

Mr Bass said: ‘We think it’s important that younger people realise the effect of knife crime. We want to be able to prevent similar attacks in the future. It’s important that people are educated on it.’

Durham Police confirmed they were called to the house on January 29 and arrested Kilpatrick for causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of an offensive weapon.

Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to one count of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and one count of threatening his victim with a blade.

The CPS confirmed the 50-year-old was sentenced at Teeside Crown Court to four years and eight months imprisonment in April last year.