EXCLUSIVE

by Paul Hooper

Convicted killer Steven Fields held a knife to his terrified mother throat and told her chillingly: "You are going to die... either a quick death or a slow one."

Then as she pleaded for her life, he told her: "I will stab you through the heart or give you tablets and you can go upstairs and die slowly!"

Fields, 30, from Tower Hamlets Street, Dover, had already served a jail sentence for stabbing to death a man in 2000.

Even after his release from prison he was convicted of affray in 2006 and robbery two years later.

But a judge at Canterbury Crown Court ruled the wannabe hairdresser did NOT pose a significant danger to the public.

And instead of being given an indeterminate prison sentence for the protection of the public - Fields will be now released in 18 months.

He was jailed for four years for making threats to kill his mother Kim Price, who suffers from manic depression, but has already served 175 days waiting for his trial.

Prosecutor Ed Burge told how Ms Price had gone to bed in February at her flat when Fields arrived with 10 male friends at 4am wanting to party.

"i love my mum very much. i will have to live with the way i acted for the rest of my life…” – fields

When she asked one of them to leave, her son turned on her accusing her of being "pathetic".

As Ms Price - who is bipolar - began shuffling her feet as a nervous reaction to fear as Fields mocked her.

She later said that her son "just seem to flip" and pushed her calling her "a stupid bitch".

Mr Burge added that Fields then claimed he owed money to his friends and they would kill him.

"He pushed her hard enough that she banged her head against a boiler which produced a lump on the back of her head the size of half a grapefruit.

"With a knife behind his back, he told his mother: 'You are not going to live to see the end of the night'.

"He held the knife up against her throat and against her chest and he told her he was going to stab her."

The court heard he then forced his frightened mother to put her hand on the kitchen table and "made as if he was going to cut off either her hand or fingers".

She later told officers she was "absolutely terrified" and was crying and shaking and believed she was going to die.

He told her that he had "nothing to live for" and that were both going to die.

Mr Burge said that Ms Price then began pleading with her son not to kill her.

"She said that if he did he would spend the rest of his life in prison. He said that he didn't care.

"He then looked inside some kitchen cupboards and found some tablets, powerful painkillers. He tried to force her to take those tablets, " added Mr Burge.

But even then, after smoking a cigarette Fields demanded she hand over cash - and he stole £165 from her savings.

He was arrested 10 days later at another address in Dover hiding in a cupboard under the stairs.

Fields initially denied the offences but pleaded guilty to making threats to kill, theft of cash and assault just five days before his trial was due to start.

In September 2001 at Maidstone Crown Court he was acquitted of murder but found guilty of manslaughter and jailed.

In the trial he claimed he had picked up a knife to defend himself against a larger older man and stabbed him.

Following his release he was convicted of offences of dishonesty and public disorder in 2006, including being jailed for three years for affray after a bust up with three soldiers in Dover.

He was also jailed for eight months for robbery in June 2008.

Kerry Waite, defending, said Fields had been brought up in care but had hoped to become a footballer.

"That was denied him by virtue of his prison sentence and he feels he has been carrying the burden of that ever since."

After being released from his latest jail sentence in 2009, he went to live with his mother "as her carer" and hoped to set up a hairdressing business.

"He has his own issues and problems and it was to some extent naive to think each could cope with each other's disabilities. It was a fatal cocktail that was waiting to explode, " he added.

Fields would later write a letter to his lawyers saying: "I never meant or wanted to cause my mum any upset or put her in that situation.

"I love my mum very much. I will have to live with the way I acted for the rest of my life.

"I have honestly tried everything in my power to live a normal and happy life and to stay away from prison for good."

Judge Nigel van der Bijl said: "This case is on the cusp of a possible a public protection order.

"One is looking for a person who represents a real danger to members of the public in general terms.

"This defendant, in my judgement, doesn't reach such a criteria.

"The previous cases took place within the private domain and in my judgment this is not a case where a sentence for public protection should be passed."

Fields was given a four year jail term and will serve half, less the days he has already served in custody.