A plastic surgeon stabbed a ‘hated’ colleague after breaking into his £1m home in full camouflage gear, a court heard.
Peter Brooks, 61, had armed himself with 20 litres of a highly flammable petrol mix, matches, a crowbar and a kitchen knife before cycling to fellow plastic surgeon Graeme Perks’ house, jurors were told.
He then forced his way into the detached rural property and began splashing fuel around in a bid to kill Mr Perks in fire and ‘get him out of the way’ after he took part in disciplinary proceedings against him at work, it is alleged.
But when Mr Perks, 65, was woken by a loud noise and went downstairs to investigate, Brooks stabbed him, Loughborough Magistrates’ Court heard.
Mr Perks, also a plastic surgeon at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, was found by his wife and son and taken to hospital where he was placed in an induced coma after losing six litres of blood.
Jurors were told he only survived the 8cm deep wound, which entered beneath his right rib cage, thanks to ‘quick action and amazing surgical skill’.
Brooks, a consultant plastic surgeon who specialised in burns, was found asleep with a badly bleeding hand around four hours later on a garden bench and was arrested in hospital after the concerned homeowner called an ambulance.
He denies two counts of attempted murder, attempted arson with intent to endanger life, and having a bladed article.
Peter Brooks, 61, (pictured in December, 2015) had armed himself with 20 litres of a highly flammable petrol mix, matches, a crowbar and a kitchen knife before cycling to fellow plastic surgeon Graeme Perks’ house, jurors were told
Mr Perks, also a plastic surgeon at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, was found by his wife and son and taken to hospital where he was placed in an induced coma after losing six litres of blood
Opening the case on Monday, Tracy Ayling KC said the alleged attack took place early on the ‘cold and snowy morning’ of January 14 2021 when the UK was under Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
At the time, Brooks was the subject of disciplinary proceedings at work which had been going on for six years and could have resulted in him being sacked from the Nottingham University NHS Trust. An online meeting regarding the disciplinary had taken place three days before the alleged attack. Statemants from Mr Parks formed part of the evidence.
Ms Ayling said Brooks was ‘clearly frustrated’ by the disciplinary proceedings and by January 14 ‘had had enough’ and ‘made a conscious decision to take the law into his own hands.’
She said: ‘The Prosecution does not have to prove a motive for any crime; however, it is clear that the defendant hated Graeme Perks and you can conclude on the evidence you will hear, that he wanted him out of the way.’
The court heard in the early hours of the morning, Brooks left his home in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, and cycled just over a mile to the nearby village of Halam where Mr Perks, lived with wife Beverley, 68, and their adult son Henry, 29.
He was dressed in full camouflage jacket, trousers, hat and head torch and was carrying a crowbar, cans of petrol, matches and a knife.
Ms Ayling said: ‘His intention was, say the Crown, to break into Mr Perks house, set fire to it and if necessary, stab Mr Perks. In short, he intended to kill Mr Perks by either or both those means. The use of fire, or the use of a knife.’
The prosecutor claimed Brooks appeared to have gained entry to the Perks’ ‘isolated’ home by smashing a glass conservatory door at the rear, allegedly cutting his hands in the process.
The fuel was in a pair of supermarket ‘bags for life’ which had been carefully prepared to allow them to be held and easily poured, the prosecutor said.
Jurors heard a fire investigation dog later found petrol on the ground floor the staircase. Ms Ayling said: ‘The purpose must have been to kill those in the property and to make sure, stop them escaping down the staircase.’
But before he could start the fire, Mr Perks was woken by a ‘loud noise’.
Ms Ayling said: ‘He got out of bed – he sleeps naked – and ran down the stairs and into the drawing room.’ She said he saw a figure in dark clothing, which he initially thought was his son Henry.
The prosecutor said: ‘In his recorded interview, he remembered saying, ‘What the hell’s going on Henry?’. At which point the figure turned around and he could see it was wearing a headlight and possibly a balaclava – he wasn’t sure as he was blinded by the headlight .
Jurors were told Mr Perks (pictured) only survived the 8cm deep wound, which entered beneath his right rib cage, thanks to ‘quick action and amazing surgical skill’
‘The next thing he knew he felt a blow to his body. He put his hands to his abdomen where it was warm and sticky and felt something poking out of his abdomen. He decided he must have been stabbed. He didn’t remember anything after that.’
As well as the emergency operation, Mr Perks needed 40 units of blood in the first three hours following his arrival at Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre, where he worked.
He was placed in a medically induced coma and required a further two operations before being moved to critical care. He finally left hospital on February 15 – just over a month after the attack.
Ms Ayling said that after stabbing Mr Perks, Brooks cycled back to his house, where he left a trail of blood, then left there again, being found asleep on a patio bench in a garden at 8.07am.
After his arrest Brooks made no comment to detectives. She said DNA from Brooks was found on the knife, and fragments of glass from the conservatory door were discovered on his clothing.
Jurors were told by judge Mr Justice Pepperall that Brooks wasn’t attending the trial, and in a ‘highly unusual combination’ of factors had also chosen not to be represented by lawyers.
But he added they ‘must not speculate’ about his absence from the dock, or allow it to ‘affect their task, which is to decide whether he is guilty or not’.
Mr Perks is a former chairman and president of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons’ professional standards committee (BAPRAS). He qualified as a surgeon in 1979.
The trial, which is expected to last up to 14 weeks, continues.
