Man who viciously attacked pub landlord jailed

Carl Davis, guilty of vicious pub assault.

A man who viciously attacked a pub landlord, leaving him in a coma, has been jailed indefinitely.

Carl Edward Davis, 27, of Greave Avenue, Rochdale, pleaded guilty to section 18 wounding at an earlier hearing at Bolton Crown Court.

On Friday (23 October) he was given an indeterminate sentence for public protection and must serve a minimum of three years and four months in prison before he can be considered for parole.

He will then remain on licence for the rest of his life.

Davis was responsible for a savage and senseless attack on the landlord of the Spring Mill Tavern on Halifax Road, Smallbridge on Saturday 18 April.

Although the victim is now out of his coma, for a while he was on a tube feed and could not speak properly, and it is unlikely he will ever fully recover from his injuries.

On the evening he was attacked, the landlord had arranged for a band to play in the pub but they did not turn up. However, it remained busy and customers said the victim himself was drinking quite heavily. Davis was also drinking in the pub.

At about 1.30am the place emptied leaving the victim by himself.

At some point over the next two hours, Davis brutally assaulted the victim, punching him in the face and using some sort of weapon - possibly a pool cue or a broken bottle - to attack him.

While the victim lay motionless in a pool of blood, Davis robbed the fruit machine and stole bottles, wrapping them up in a blanket. He then hailed a taxi which picked him up around the corner of the pub and took him back to his home. He later burnt the clothes he was wearing, hid the ring he was wearing during the attack and threw his passport away.

The victim was found on his back in the bar area at 1.15pm on the Sunday afternoon. He was unconscious, covered in dry blood with a large gaping hole on the left side of his forehead. He had to be taken to Hope Hospital for immediate surgery for a bleed to his brain.

Following extensive examination of the scene, Davis was forensically linked to the pub and arrested on 26 April. During his interview he used a friend as an alibi, but officers quickly disproved this.

Forensic analysis of the damaged fruit machine then revealed spots of blood that matched Davis' and he was charged.

Detective Sergeant Andrew Butterworth, of Rochdale CID, said: "Only Davis knows what motivated him to carry out such a savage attack.

"What is beyond question is the level of brutality. This was a mindless attack on a vulnerable man who was on his own and intoxicated. The damage Davis caused when he stamped on the victim's head has left him with injuries that will probably plague him for the rest of his life. It is no exaggeration to say this man could have died, his injuries were that severe.

"One can only wonder if Davis would show remorse if he could see how ill his victim is, struggling to eat without the assistance of a tube.

"However, the fact that he robbed the fruit machine, probably as an afterthought, while his victim lay in a pool of his blood desperately trying to cling onto his life, shows what a cruel man he is."