Pub machete terror attack thug is jailed
AMAN who terrorised pub bouncers with a machete after being barred has been jailed.
Anthony Bartley was thrown out of The James Watts Pub in Cheadle following a row over charging his phone behind the bar.
The 50-year-old, who had an argument with door staff after being ejected, returned brandishing a two foot-long blade and wearing a balaclava.
CCTV footage shown during a trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court showed Bartley wildly swinging the weapon as bouncers pushed him back with bar stools and chairs. He pleaded guilty to being in possession of an offensive weapon at an earlier hearing, but denied attempted wounding with intent and attempted wounding.
The jury accepted Bartley’s argument he was merely trying to ‘scare’ door staff and didn’t intend to hurt anyone during the incident.
But he was jailed for 32 months after admitting brandishing the machete – and because of his ‘appalling’ record of 116 offences and 47 previous convictions, including assault and possessing an offensive weapon.
The court heard Bartley, of Buckingham Way, Stockport, was asked to leave the pub, on High Street, after being told he couldn’t charge his phone behind the bar.
When he tried to get back in, he was told by door staff Philip Ball and Anthony White he was barred, before becoming aggressive.
When Bartley tried to barge past the doormen, he was pushed back and fell and hit his head on the ground. He returned armed around an hour later.
Giving evidence, Bartley admitted he was ‘being an a***hole’, but insisted he was only trying to ‘scare’ Mr Ball and Mr White. “I felt belittled and I wanted them to feel how I felt,” he said.
He insisted he was aiming the machete at the chairs, not the doormen. Mr Ball and Mr White were praised for their bravery during the trial – and were given chief superintendent commendations by GMP following the incident on February 24.
Mohammed Nawaz, defending, said Bartley regretted his behaviour.
Sentencing, Judge Mark Rhind told him: “Clearly from your record, when you are out and drinking, you are a very stupid man. You become aggressive, use weapons and threaten violence very often.”