Stabbed surgeon Graeme Perks’ police interview heard at Loughborough Magistrates’ Court as Southwell plastic surgeon Dr Peter Brooks’ attempted murder trial continues

A court was told how a retired surgeon rushed from his bed feeling something “seriously untoward” was happening in his home, before being stabbed by an intruder.

Former consultant plastic surgeon Graeme Perks suffered a serious stab wound at his Halam Hill home, which was also doused in petrol, in the early hours of January 14, 2021. Footage of his police interview a month after the injury has been presented to the jury at Loughborough Magistrates’ Court.

Today (March 11) marked the second day of the trial of his former Nottingham University Hospitals colleague, Dr Peter Brooks, who faces two charges of attempted murder — by stabbing and arson — one count of arson with intent to endanger life, and one count of possession of a bladed article relating to the incident.

Dr Brooks, formerly of Landseer Road in Southwell, is not in attendance and has chosen not to be represented by a lawyer at his trial.

In his police interview, conducted on February 24, 2021 shortly after he had been discharged from hospital, Mr Perks described feeling ‘a blow’ and upon touching his abdomen finding it “warm, moist, and slightly sticky, with the impression of something bulging through [his] skin”.

Prior to this, Mr Perks said he heard a loud bang and recalled “leaping out of bed and running down stairs into the drawing room”. He said he “realised something seriously wrong” was happening in his home, initially believing someone was trying to break in.

Once downstairs he noticed a large hole in the glass conservatory door and saw a figure outside in the dark — who he was absolutely certain was male and a “big, solid person”.

He explained he initially mistook the figure for his son, due to their similar build, but when he approached the man who turned and blinded him with the light from his headtorch before stabbing him he was certain it wasn’t — but could not make out what the male looked like.

“I saw nothing move, I just felt this blow,” he added.

“I don’t remember it being painful at all.”

He then explained he had a gap in his memory until hearing paramedics speaking to him in the hallway of his home some time later.

When in intensive care over the following days he added he had “pretty awful hallucinations” about his house being on fire.

Interviews from his wife Beverly Perks and adult son Henry Perks, who was at the time staying with his parents, were also shown in court. These had been conducted later on, on the same day of the incident.

Mrs Perks recalled following her husband downstairs after his actions in rushing from bed had disturbed her and initially feared there was a fire upon smelling petrol in the downstairs rooms.

She said she saw magazines soaked in fuel, as well as two 20L fuel cannisters in Sainsbury’s bags for life at the bottom of the stairs, with one on its side spilling onto the floor, and decided to roll the hall rug out of the way.

Henry then also appeared from upstairs, before Mr Perks arrived in the hall from the adjacent drawing room and said he’d been stabbed and needed an ambulance.

Mrs Perks said: “He slowly collapsed on the cold wet floor… he was white pale… all I could see was intestine and liver.”

She then fetched her husband a duvet from upstairs to cover him, while Henry was on the phone with emergency services.

Later, after the arrival of the police, she explained she had looked into the drawing room and then seen a blood-covered kitchen knife she didn’t recognise and the shattered conservatory doors.

In his interview, Henry said he had awoken at just past 4am, hearing a vague commotion from downstairs which he found “strange”, and when he reached the ground floor heard his mother repeatedly saying “oh my god” and talking about a fire.

He said his initial concern was that there was an intruder and his main concern was his parents and securing the house.

He added that he had moved the fuel cannisters — one full and one half empty — into the kitchen fearing the amount of fuel in the hallway, and had also taken armed himself with two of the family’s own knives from the kitchen in case an intruder was still around.

Today’s court hearing also heard statements from other emergency service personnel who attended the incident, with them corroborating the “strong smell” of petrol in the house.

The trial continues.