A SON who tried to strangle his mother during a brutal and sustained attack has been jailed for six years.

Greg Smith, 23, punched and kicked his mother Jill before telling her he was going to kill her after she criticised him for making a meal at midnight.

The High Court in Perth heard how she felt she was going to die after blacking out while her son's hands were gripped around her throat.

Lord Bannatyne said: "On any view this is a dreadful crime, involving a vicious, unprovoked, cowardly and sustained by you on your mother, in which her life was clearly in danger.

"It was clearly a terrifying and extremely distressing event for your mother. Beyond that, the effect on your mother has clearly been significant."

Smith admitted ­endangering his mother's life by punching and kicking her and restricting her breathing at Victoria Place, Blairgowrie He was initially facing an attempted murder charge.

Counsel for Smith, Ronnie Renucci, told the court that the mother-son relationship had been ended by the incident.

The court heard he told police that he had just "snapped" during a heated argument.