A TEENAGER has been jailed for six weeks for assaulting his terminally-ill mother.

Matthew Ellis, of Meredith Road, Clacton, was sentenced to 42 days in a young offenders’ institution after he admitted attacking his mother, Katrina, who has terminal cancer.

Colchester Magistrates’ Court heard the assault took place at 3am on April 1, when Ellis returned to the house he shared with his mother in Gilders Way, Clacton, and asked to use her mobile phone.

The court heard, when she said no, he became angry, grabbing her wrists and becoming aggressive.

He then started smashing up the house, the court heard.

She sat outside in the car while she waited for the police to arrive.

In a letter to the court, Mrs Ellis claimed her son was cruel to her.

She said when she asked him for a glass of water, he said: “You have legs, do it yourself”.

Ita Farelly, mitigating, said Ellis’s relationship with his mother was much better since he moved out of her house.

She said the 19-year-old found it difficult to deal with his mother’s depression.

She added Ellis’s mother did not want him to serve a long sentence as she wanted him at her side when she died.

District Judge David Cooper said: “This is a wretched way to behave.

“It hardly needs saying what a foul thing it is to do to attack your mother when she’s dying of cancer.

“They way you spoke to her was as if she was a bit of dirt.

“It was a cruel and callous assault on a vulnerable victim and you should really be going inside for much longer, but I’m not sure your mother could bear it.”

Ellis pleaded guilty to one count of assault by beating.