A "dangerous bully" battered a disabled man with a beer bottle in a vicious robbery after spotting him using a Zimmer frame in a hotel.
Stephen Earle, 36, followed vulnerable Peter Keppie into his room at the Scarisbrick Hotel on Lord Street, Southport, at around 10am on August 15 last year. Mr Keppie, also 36, was living at the hotel because it could cater for his mobility needs while he was awaiting an operation for a congenital back problem.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Earle, who was carrying two Desperado beer bottles, shut the door behind them and asked Mr Keppie if he could buy valium from him, and offered to give him cocaine.
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Bernice Campbell, prosecuting, told the court: "He began to rifle through Mr Keppie's belongings looking for his medication, before asking for cash and taking Mr Keppie’s bank card from his wallet. The defendant then struck Mr Keppie on the head with the bottom of one of the beer bottles.
"Mr Keppie struggled but the defendant struck him again with the beer bottle on the arm, leg and foot."
The attack caused serious bruising to Mr Keppie, but Earle, of no fixed address, was not finished and followed by "ransacking" the room. The court heard he then snatched Mr Keppie's brand new iPhone which his family had bought for his birthday only five days earlier.
A short time later Mr Keppie's mum turned up at the hotel and found him lying on his bed "in distress". She took him to Southport Hospital where he spent 10 days as in inpatient, including the day of his birthday.
In a tragic twist, just three months later Mr Keppie died, although no conclusive link was found between his death and the attack by Earle.
Ms Campbell told the court: "Shortly after his discharge from the hospital, Mr Keppie suffered a bleed during the night. There was dark blood on his pillow. His mum believes that Mr Keppie suffered from trauma and his body has shut down upon returning to the hotel.
"As a result of this, Mr Keppie returned to his mum's care. She notes how he suffered from flashbacks to the assault and nightmares. She recounts how Peter was very friendly and polite. She describes how he was gregarious and 'to say he lit up the room is an understatement'.
"She states that Mr Keppie never sought confrontation and she believes that the male who assaulted Mr Keppie clearly took advantage of him due to his vulnerability."
Ms Campbell told the court that at the time of the attack Earle was on bail after being arrested for another serious violent offence. She said that on June 4 that year Earle attended a "gathering of neighbours" at a flat on Priory Road, Anfield, at which victims Kirsty Littlewood and James Wood were present.
An argument took place between Earle and another man over a social media post, which led to one neighbour, Kirsty Littlewood, intervening to try and calm them down.
Ms Campbell said: "The defendant did not respond well to Miss Littlewood’s attempts to diffuse the situation and punched her in her right eye. Mr Earle then came at Mr Wood with a kitchen knife from the knife block and swiped at Mr Wood with the knife, catching his head and causing a cut above his left ear of around 1-2 inches.
"The defendant continued to make stabbing motions towards Mr Wood’s neck despite another male trying to get the knife off him. The other male was able to successfully disarm the defendant who ran out of the front door."
The court heard the knife attack left Mr Wood with a one inch scar and Ms Littlewood suffered a black eye thanks to the "forceful" punch.
He later pleaded guilty to the robbery of Mr Keppie, assaulting Mr Wood causing actual bodily harm and a common assault against Ms Littlewood.
The court heard Earle had a lengthy record, which included 24 convictions for 36 offences including for a "robbery and burglary spree" while he was living in Spain, which landed him two years in a Spanish jail.
Jo Maxwell, defending, said her client had very little recollection of attacking Mr Keppie and that his "life was a mess" at the time due to addiction to Class A drugs and alcohol. She said: "He has had a very difficult life living on the streets and between different people's houses.
"He himself having lived that life has been attacked, he was stabbed in the hand shortly before these offences. He has said the time he has spent on remand in custody has been the most stable part of his life for many years."
Ms Maxwell said her client was under no illusions that he faced a lengthy sentence, urged Judge Louise Brandon not to jail him for so long it would "extinguish all hope" of him being able to "put together a more constructive life".
Judge Brandon, passing sentence, described Earle as a "violent bully" and said she had "no hesitation" in finding that Earle met the legal definition of "dangerousness" under sentencing legislation.
She said: "You have demonstrated not one shred of remorse for harm you have caused. One particularly troubling feature of this case is that, notwithstanding the fact you were on bail for other violent offences, you targeted a vulnerable man because you knew he was unable to protect himself."
Judge Brandon passed an extended sentence of 11 years and three months for the robbery with an additional five years on licence. She also handed him an additional 17 months for the assaults.
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