A pair of drinkers battered a pub landlord after an argument about one of the men's love life.
Kevin Keelan and Kai Finch lashed out at Martin Rowe at the Monument pub in Southport earlier this year. They punched and kicked him, backed him into a corner and one of them threw a glass at him during the incident in January.
A judge at Liverpool Crown Court today handed both men a second chance as he decided not to jail them.
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Nardeen Nemat, prosecuting, said Keelan, 42, and Finch, 21, were former colleagues and were both drinking in the Monument on the night of January 15, 2022. Keelan was with a woman he had recently started dating, having been in the pub a few weeks earlier with his ex.
He became angry when Mr Rowe, whom he went to school with, appeared to suggest to the woman that he still had a girlfriend and began fighting with him. Ms Nemat said Keelan punched Mr Rowe then pushed him backwards before Finch began to join in.
Other customers tried to stop the fight but both Keelan and Finch continued, pushing the landlord towards the door of the toilets. Finch threw a pint glass at Mr Rowe and then both men continued to punch and kick him before throwing tables and a bar stool.
Keelan and Finch were both charged with assault and affray and pleaded guilty last month. Frank Dillon, representing Keelan, said his client, who has two convictions from more than a decade ago, felt deep regret over the “ugly” incident.
He said: “I can say properly that it is behaviour that is out of character for this defendant. Though he has antecedence it is minor and it is now 17 or 18 years old.”
Jacob Dyer, representing Finch, said the 21 year old, who has no convictions, also had remorse for his actions, adding that it came at “a very low point” when his relationship had just ended and he had lost his job.
The judge, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool, Andrew Menary, QC, said Keelan had clearly been annoyed by what Mr Rowe said to him but said that “whatever it was, it did not justify you in causing any sort of violence against him”. Turning to Finch, the city’s top judge said: “You obviously felt you were going to the aid of your friend but he was not at risk of any sort of violence from Martin Rowe. All Mr Rowe did was defend himself. You both then set upon this man.”
Finch, of Salisbury Street, Southport, and Keelan, of Cherry Road, Ainsdale, were both handed nine month jail terms, suspended for 12 months.
