A PENSIONER stabbed his son for not going to visit his mother in hospital.

William Curle repeatedly lashed out at his 45-year-old son Richard at their Edinburgh flat in January.

A judge heard how a row erupted between the pair due to Richard being "unwilling" to see his mother, who had been admitted to a cancer ward the previous day.

Prosecutor David Nicolson said: "In the course of the struggle, the accused reached out to the sink and grabbed a knife. He used it to inflict injury on his son striking him on his neck, hand and lower back."

Curle, 68, could now face jail after he pled guilty to assaulting his son to the danger of his life. He will learn his fate when he returns to the dock just before Christmas.