Yob jailed for taking swipe at pub boss
ATHUG who swung a punch at a pub landlord while wearing a ‘spiked knuckleduster’ has been jailed.
Connor Steven Goodwin, 26, of Thorn Bank, Bacup, also skipped bail for nearly a year after failing to appear in court to be sentenced for one count of threatening behaviour and another of possessing an offensive weapon.
Burnley Crown Court heard Goodwin was heavily intoxicated while in the Rostron Arms, Edenfield, at around 9.40pm on June 3, 2016.
A member of staff contacted the pub’s landlord David Swarbrick, who was not there at the time, with concerns about Goodwin’s behaviour.
Prosecuting, Claire Larton, said Mr Swarbrick made his way to the pub and asked Goodwin to leave the premises.
She said: “The defendant became angry and shouted ‘I’m going to smash your face in’.
“He then produced a knuckleduster with spikes on each knuckle and threw a punch at Mr Swarbrick, which he avoided by stepping back.”
The court heard that Goodwin then shouted ‘I’m going to burn your house down, I hope you’ve got good insurance’.
He was eventually ejected with the help of several pub customers and the police were called.
Officers arrested Goodwin and found part of the knuckleduster in a plant pot outside the pub and the remainder in his pocket.
Goodwin later pleaded guilty to the charges and was bailed to appear for sentence in March, 2017.
However, he failed to attend court and was at large for almost 12 months before handing himself in on February 12.
Defending Anna Chesnutt said her client was estranged from his parents and shortly before the incident his grandmother who raised him had died.
He was self medicating with large amounts of alcohol and had no recollection of the incident in the Rostron Arms.
With regard to failing to attend his sentencing she said that her client had ‘demonstrated a lack of maturity, he buried his head in the sand’.
She added that he had given up alcohol after the night in question and had found work as a scaffolder.
Sentencing him to 31 weeks in prison, Recorder Mark Willems QC said Goodwin had caused ‘fear and distress’ to Mr Swarbrick and the other people in the pub at the time.
He said: “You caused a scene and then things took an unexpected and sinister turn.”
He added that his breach of bail was also a very serious offence.