Aaron Kerr, from the Wirral, Merseyside, has been jailed for the latest in a series of attacks in pubs where he drunkenly threw an ashtray at a woman’s head
A self-dubbed “psychopath” was told by a judge “we meet again” after a latest pub attack where he threw an ashtray at a woman’s head.
Aaron Kerr was previously allowed to walk free from Liverpool Crown Court despite chasing a man out of a bar while brandishing a knife. But he then blew this second chance by setting off fire extinguishers and threatening police officers with a pair of scissors during a further episode of drunken violence in a pub. To compound matters even further, the self-described “psychopath” went on to leave yet another innocent victim with a bloody wound following a prank gone wrong after another drinking session.
The same court heard on Tuesday, that Kerr, from Beechwood, Wirral, Merseyside spent several hours drinking in the Stork Hotel in Birkenhead on March 27 this year. But Hannah Darling, prosecuting, detailed how he “caused a nuisance” by trespassing behind the bar, throwing drinks and setting off fire extinguishers, reported the Liverpool Echo.
Having been told to leave the premises by manager Michelle Clark as a result, the 38-year-old warned her that “he was a psychopath”. Kerr thereafter grabbed her phone from her hand when she attempted to call the pub’s owner and threatened to “put her in the ground”.
The defendant subsequently grabbed another customer, Paul Watson, around the neck and wrestled him to the ground before repeatedly punching him in the face. When Ms Clark, along with another member of the public, tried to intervene, he told her: “Get off my hand before I slap you.”
Having become aware of police officers in attendance, Kerr then pulled a pair of scissors from his pocket and threatened to stab them. PCs were forced to draw their tasers in order to detain him, and later said he “felt s***” upon being shown CCTV footage of the incident by police.
Kerr subsequently attended the Coach and Horses pub in Moreton on May 17, where he drunkenly placed a metal ashtray onto the head of a woman named Natasha Harvey in an apparent practical joke. However, when she did likewise to him, he responded by throwing the blunt object at her head from across the table.
This left her with a wound measuring three to four centimetres in length and around one to two centimetres wide. Under interview, he stated that he had visited the pub after a Christening while “intoxicated” but said he “wouldn’t have done something if someone else hadn’t started it”.
His criminal record shows a total of seven previous convictions for 12 offences, including an affray in 2010. He was then handed a 17-month community order with unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement for the same charge in June last year, by Judge David Swinnerton, who he now appeared before during his latest court date. This came after he chased his victim out of a pub while armed with a Stanley knife.
Joanne Maxwell, defending, said on his behalf: “One can see that this is a man who is capable of staying out of trouble. There is a gap in his offending between 2010 and 2020. 2020 is when his sister lost her life suddenly and unexpectedly, and he turned to drink.
“All of these offences have been fuelled by alcohol, and that is the real evil in this case. This is a man who clearly needs help. He needs a period of abstinence, and a lengthy period of abstinence.”
Kerr admitted two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, affray, assault, possession of a bladed article in a public place and breaching a community order. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a navy blue Moose Knuckles jumper, he was jailed for two years.
Sentencing, Judge Swinnerton said: “It is unfortunate that we meet again. You had demonstrated, until June 2024, an ability to stay out of trouble. That was what was in my mind when I gave you an opportunity with the community order.
“You had been out of trouble, aside from one conviction for shoplifting, for more than 14 years at that stage. But you went to the Stork Hotel bar. You got drunk. It is clear that that is your problem. You let yourself down. You have let yourself down time and time again lately through drink.
“For no real reason, you became abusive towards customers. You began punching him and continued to punch him on the floor. You persistently and repeatedly punched him. You then armed yourself with some scissors from the bar and made threats that you were going to stab the police officers when they came to try to sort you out.
“You pleaded guilty to those matters and were bailed awaiting sentence. You went to the Coach and Horses pub, where, again, you got drunk. I am pretty certain that everyone had had a drink.
“You put an ashtray upside down on her head. That was intended as a joke. That was then put back on your head, and that was not taken as a joke despite you having done exactly the same to her. You threw it with some force at her from across the table, less than a metre away. Again, you lost your temper for no good reason whatsoever other than you were in drink.
“On that occasion, I gave you an opportunity to serve a sentence in the community, which was designed to assist you and, to be fair, you made a good job of that. You have done all of the hours of unpaid work and 10 out of 20 RAR days.
“In terms of changing your ways and learning anything, the five offences for which I have to sentence you demonstrate not. I take the view that, once you have had a chance, as you had from me last year, to rehabilitate yourself in the community and you go on to commit five further offences on two occasions of a similar nature, the only appropriate sentence is one of immediate custody.
“You will have a relatively long time now, sober and clear of alcohol. If you want to spend your life working hard and looking after your family, as you are perfectly capable of doing, you need to think carefully about how much you are drinking upon your release.”