Scott Bass, 29, was attacked by stepdad Mark Kilpatrick, 50 (Pictures: Kennedy News)

A legal consultant says he is lucky to be alive after his stepdad slashed his head open with a machete during a row over who would inherit his mum’s house.

Scott Bass, 29, was also left with a grisly Z-shaped scar after Mark Kilpatrick, 50, hacked at him with the 15-inch Gurkha-style military blade in Darlington, Durham, in January last year.

The pair had been discussing who the home would pass on to – despite his mum still being alive – when Kilpatrick lost his temper and went to fetch the huge knife from the garage.

Scott recalled: ‘I don’t know why he got so angry about it. We got into a big argument and I decided I was going to go to bed. I realised I’d left my phone charger downstairs and lo and behold he’s stood there with a machete. I was in disbelief, thinking “You cannot be serious” over an argument like this.’

A year later he still cannot remember how the topic even came up, let alone how it triggered such appalling violence.

On the attack, he went on: ‘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”.

Scott says he thought he was going to bleed to death (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)

He was left with a grisly Z-shaped wound (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)

Another of the blows left a deep incision (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)

‘There was blood everywhere. I managed to get upstairs and put my head straight over the bath and it was just pouring with blood.

‘I couldn’t believe it – I was in complete shock.’

More: Trending

Kilpatrick later pleaded guilty to charges of GBH with intent and possessing an offensive weapon at Teesside Crown Court, where he was jailed for four years and eight months.

Scott 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.

Mark Kilpatrick is serving a sentence of more than four years over the attack (Picture: KennedyNews/DurhamPolice)

‘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.’

His brother Damien has now launched a fundraiser in aid of EDGE NE – an organisation dedicated to supporting young people affected by criminal exploitation and serious youth violence.

Scott 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.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Scott Bass’s mum is still alive and he can’t remember why his stepdad ‘got so angry’.