A MAN who tried to put a plastic bag over his father's mouth in an "uncharacteristic explosion of violence" while the 71-year-old was in bed at their Macquarie Hills home has avoided a jail term.
Timothy Grenadier, now 36, had pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and was expected to face a trial in July, but prosecutors accepted a plea to a much less serious charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm during the Newcastle District Court's super callover.
Grenadier told a psychologist that he "finally snapped" on April 22 last year and climbed on top of his father while he was sleeping and wearing a CPAP mask.
He woke his father up, pulled the mask off and tried to put a plastic bag over his nose and mouth.
The pair wrestled and fell off the bed and the victim suffered bruises to his arms.
Grenadier spent nearly three months behind bars before being granted bail.
He was represented by barrister Rebecca Suters and solicitor Drew Hamilton and supported by family members when he faced a sentence hearing in Newcastle District Court on Friday.
His father wrote a letter of support, outlining some of the difficulties his son had encountered since being charged, and prepared a short victim impact statement that only detailed the mild bruises he suffered in the attack.
Judge Roy Ellis said Grenadier had no criminal history, had since undergone counselling and was unlikely to reoffend.
He placed Grenadier on a 20-month intensive corrections order.
