These shocking images show how a young dad was savagely beaten for three minutes during a “frenzied” pub attack.
John Baxter, 27, was left with 9cm lacerations to both sides of his head after the violent onslaught by two men.
Video footage, obtained by the Irish Sunday Mirror, shows how he was ruthlessly targeted as he sat drinking alongside fellow customers at Kane’s Bar in Granard on October 7, 2018.
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The horrifying footage was key in the State’s prosecution of Edward “Blondie” Stokes following a nine-day trial at Longford Circuit Criminal Court this week.
The father-of-six was found unanimously guilty by a jury of five men and five women after just an hour and 20 minutes of deliberation.
The video, which was played before the jury, showed Mr Baxter sitting at the top end of the bar at around 1.30pm when a man – currently not before the courts – enters from a side door and begins shouting at the part-time farmer.
Seconds later, the same man can be seen wielding a baseball bat at Mr Baxter as shocked bystanders look on in horror.
In a desperate bid to protect himself, the victim is seen picking up a number of stools and launching punches to ward off his assailant.
Moments later, the man exits the bar’s front entrance before storming back in with a second man. That accomplice, wearing a baseball cap and sleeveless jacket, was Stokes who was convicted in court.
Together with his fellow aggressor, the 34-year-old can be seen inflicting up to 20 blows with a shillelagh on the stricken Mr Baxter as he lay prone on the floor.
In his statement to gardai, Mr Baxter said he was able to identify Stokes as being one of the perpetrators. He added: “I was looking down at the floor with my hand on my head when I heard the front door opening. I looked up and received a blow to the head. As I was falling I saw Blondie Edward Stokes.
“Blondie had a pick handle. I felt really dizzy and as I fell, I pulled the table over on top of myself.”
Mr Baxter said as he desperately tried to fend off his alleged attackers, he saw his life flash before him.
“As I was being beaten I felt I would never see my son and family ever again,” he said, adding how both men continued to beat him while he lay defenceless on the ground.
An image taken from a still during the attack matched a photo taken of the suspect’s inner forearm following his arrest which carried a tattoo with the name “Stokes”.
Sgt Ollie Walsh said he was able to identify Stokes, of Ferriskill, Granard, Co Longford by his “goatee style beard”, build and gait. Delivering sentence on Friday, Judge Kenneth Connolly described the attack as “savage, vicious and sustained”.
He sentenced Stokes to three years for violent disorder, suspending the final six months for a period of 12 months, two years and three months for endangerment and 18 months for the production of an article.
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