TWO men who assaulted a landlord and others during 10 minutes of violence at a pub have seen their jail terms increased after judges ruled their sentences were “unduly lenient”.

Joshua Kehoe, 29, and George Harper, 30, were imprisoned following the “prolonged, persistent attack” involving five victims at the Manor Farm pub in Rainhill in the early hours of Sunday May 30 last year.

Landlord’s fractured skull

In a series of assaults, landlord John Lunt suffered a fractured skull and nose, a customer was concussed, a man on crutches was hit with a bottle while a friend of Mr Lunt was left with a dislocated shoulder.

Original jail sentences

In April, Kehoe pleaded guilty to one count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, a count of causing grievous bodily harm and two charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He was jailed for a total of four years by a judge at Liverpool Crown Court in June.

Harper admitted the same offences as well as a third count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and received a total prison sentence of two years and eight months.

Court of Appeal

But judges at the Court of Appeal on Wednesday concluded that both their sentences were unduly lenient after they were referred by Solicitor General Michael Tomlinson.

Lord Justice Singh, sitting with Mr Justice Fraser and Mr Justice Henshaw, ordered that Kehoe’s sentence be increased to an eight-year custodial term and extended licence period of four years.

Harper’s sentence was increased to five years and four months.

According to the Solicitor General’s written reference, the offenders, who had been “working the door” at an event at Rainhill Hall, arrived at the Manor Farm shortly after 11pm on May 29 2021.

The pub had been hosting a party without incident that evening.

Kehoe and Harper had an “amicable” conversation with Mr Lunt about working as door staff at the pub in the future, but the landlord said they were not needed.

Later on, Kehoe was involved in a disagreement over whether he had taken money from a female member of staff’s handbag, something he denied.

Amid efforts to get him to leave the pub, which saw Kehoe warn Mr Lunt that he would “terror” the pub, the attacks began.

Episode of violence

Stephen Gledhill, a friend of the landlord, was “overpowered”, forced to the floor and punched and kicked. He suffered a dislocated shoulder that needed surgery.

Harper targeted Jack Anthony, a pub customer, with a “flurry of punches” that left him concussed.

Jacob Clark-Royal was punched and kicked after trying to escort Kehoe from the premises, while a crutches-using Jake McSweeney-Forrester was also assaulted.

The attacks also saw Mr Lunt punched, kicked and struck in the face with a wine bottle taken from behind the bar by Kehoe.

As a result of his assault, the landlord’s nose was left “permanently disfigured” and he had given up working in the pub, which was also his home.

At a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Wednesday, Benjamin Holt, representing the Solicitor General, challenged the two men’s sentences.

He told the court that the attacks were a “prolonged episode of unprovoked violence against a number of individuals who were unarmed”.

In the Solicitor General’s written reference, he said the sentencing judge should have considered the issue of the offenders’ “dangerousness” and highlighted aggravating factors in the case.

This included Kehoe, who joined Wednesday’s hearing via video link, previously receiving 16 convictions for 20 offences, including for battery.

Jonathan Duffy, representing Kehoe, accepted that his sentence was lenient but “not unduly so”, arguing that while there were a number of assaults, each of them was “brief”.

Keith Sutton, representing Harper, who did not appear in court, highlighted his “genuine remorse for his conduct” as a mitigating factor.

Harper lacked previous convictions and had suffered a bereavement, the court also heard.

’Unduly lenient

Lord Justice Singh said: “We have reached the conclusion that the sentences passed in this troubling case were unduly lenient.

“We have also reached the conclusion that in the case of Kehoe a finding should have been made that he is a dangerous offender.”

He said Kehoe should receive an extended sentence “in order to protect the public”.

“This was in our view a prolonged, persistent attack,” Lord Justice Singh concluded.