Edinburgh man Jonathan Kempston facing jail after horror attack left mum blind in one eye

Kempston repeatedly punched his mum in the face causing her left eye to rupture

An Edinburgh man is facing a jail sentence after leaving his mother blind in one eye following a horror attack.

Jonathan Kempston launched the savage assault on mum Dorothy Tough after the pair argued at their family home in Edinburgh last year.

Kempston, 41, repeatedly punched mum Mrs Tough to the face causing her left eye to rupture and leaving her unconscious in a pool of blood on her kitchen floor.

Edinburgh man Jonathan Kempston is facing jail after horror attack which left his mum blind in one eye

The 71-year-old victim eventually managed to make her way to a neighbour for help and was rushed to hospital for treatment but medics were unable to save the sight in her eye.

Kempston pleaded guilty to assault to his mother’s severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday.

Prosecutor Susan Dickson told the court Mrs Tough had returned from a shopping trip and an argument had erupted between the pair at around 11am on September 7 last year.

Ms Dickson said the pensioner “has little recollection as to what happened to her” and the “next recollection [she had] was lying on the ground” in her kitchen.

The fiscal told the court Mrs Tough believed she had lost consciousness for a short time and when she came round she had “blood running down her face” from an injury to her left eye.

Mrs Tough then asked her son “Did you hit me Jonathan” and he was said to have walked out the room.

After contacting a neighbour the police were called to the address where officers discovered “a pool of blood in the kitchen floor and a broken plate”.

Kempston, currently of Leith, Edinburgh, was found in his bedroom and he told police: “I knew this was coming.”

During a police interview Kempston told officers” “I can’t believe my emotions when I fight with my mum. I just reacted. I admit what I did - it was horrible.”

The fiscal depute told the court: “Mrs Tough was within Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and the initial assessment showed Mrs Tough’s left eye had ruptured. She had multiple fractures to her eye socket, two lacerations to her eye lid and there was the possibility she would lose her left eye.”

The court heard following a subsequent examination around one month later it was confirmed “she would lose the sight in her left eye”.  

Several graphic photographs of Mrs Tough’s injuries were then shown to Sheriff Gillian Sharp.

Defence lawyer Nicola Haston handed the sheriff a letter from Mrs Tough and said she would reserve her mitigation to the sentencing hearing.

Sheriff Sharp granted Kempston bail with the conditions he does not have any contact with his mother and to stay away from her home.

The sheriff deferred sentence to next month for the preparation of social work reports and restriction of liberty order assessment. 

Kempston pleaded guilty to assaulting Dorothy Tough by repeatedly punching her to the head to her severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment at an address in Edinburgh on September 7 last year.