Barman was brutally assaulted by drunken thugs in Joiners Arms pub where he worked

Cousins Gerard Rogerson and Gerard Ryan attacked the member of staff behind the bar of a deserted seaside pub in what a judge described as a "horrible incident."

The barman, Joe Hartley, was repeatedly punched and kicked and threatened he would be stabbed, said prosecuting lawyer Peter Barr.

Rogerson, 26, forced him to open the till which he cleaned out of around £400 takings. Then he grabbed him around the throat, leaving him unable to breathe for up to 10 seconds.

The barman's suffering lasted for more than an hour - during which time he was forced to drink beer and whisky shots - until the landlord of the pub arrived back at the Joiners Arms in Morecambe and was also threatened with violence. The entire incident was captured on CCTV, with footage being shown to the court.

Jailing Rogerson, of Delamere Avenue, Heysham, for three years for robbery, intentional strangulation and assault, Judge Sarah O'Brien told him he had been the main aggressor and she had no alternative but to send him to prison.

In Ryan's case, he had played only a support role and at times had even tried to intervene to stop the prolonged attack. "You were so drunk you appeared to move from attacking him to defending him," she said. "Your part was a much lesser role than your cousin's."

Ryan, 23, of Silverburn Crescent, Motherwell, escaped jail. He was given an eight-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months after admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was also ordered to do 80 hours unpaid work and attend 25 days of rehabilitation activities.

Prosecutor Mr Barr said the two men entered the Joiners Arms in Queen Street at around 9:30pm on January 5. At the time there was only one other customer and the barman in the pub. The customer left within minutes.

At first the pair offered to buy the barman a drink, but he declined. "They then they started asking questions about security, like 'how much do you pay for security?'" said Mr Barr.

One of the men asked where the boss was and said: "It would be a shame if a brick was put through your window."

At that point Rogerson went behind the bar, pulled himself a pint, put his hand inside his jacket in a threatening way and told him: "Open the till or I'll stab you." Rogerson took around £400 from the till.

Playing the CCTV footage to the court Mr Barr said: "He is swaying around a lot. He is clearly very drunk at this stage and is seen to drop some of the notes."

Rogerson grabbed the barman by the shirt collar, Ryan joined him behind the bar and then Rogerson punched Mr Hartley in the face. He continued to punch and kick him and then both cousins attacked him while he was on the ground.

In an interview with police after the attack, Mr Hartley said: "I tried my best to cover myself up." Rogerson asked where his boss lived and said: "You'd better tell me where he lives."

Mr Barr went on: "The conversation continues in a weird manner. Rogerson says 'tell your boss he owes us money for security. I've stabbed people before.'

"He then says 'you serve us drinks or we will stab you.' Ryan says 'you don't want to p*** us off.'"

Ryan took the barman's watch off his wrist and gave it to Rogerson. He handed it back when the barman said it had sentimental value for him.

At that point the pub's landlord David Hutton arrived. He too was threatened and assaulted, with one of the men saying: "We own this place now. You'd better pay us."

In his statement to police Mr Hartley said that throughout the incident he was begging them: "I want to go home, please let me go home."

He said he had been left "very shook up" by the ordeal. "I don't think I will be able to work on my own (again). I feared I would be there all night being assaulted."

When police arrived both men were still in the pub drinking. Ryan was interviewed the following day and said he didn't remember punching Mr Hartley. "But I remember roughing him up."

Rogerson admitted to officers that he had pretended to have a weapon. He also confessed he had punched him and made threats.

Barrister Paul Humphries, for Rogerson, said: "It is somewhat strange that a man with no previous convictions finds himself before the court on matters so serious as this. This was out of character."

He said his client had suffered with alcohol problems and on that day had drunk "far too much."

"He was making absolutely outlandish claims which had no basis in truth whatsoever. He very much regrets his actions. He is very sorry for what he has done.

“His behaviour was very much out of order and he accepts that. He needs to sort out his drinking and he needs help with that."

Mr Richard Flook, for Ryan, said his client, who also had no previous convictions, accepted he and his cousin had both had too much to drink, having been out since 10am that day.

"He admits roughing him (the barman) up. He wasn't involved in the kicking. He recognises that the victim was scared during the incident.

"He did, at points, appear to try and separate Mr Rogerson and the victim, but he didn't do enough to stop this incident going further. He recognises what he did was wrong and he wishes to apologise unreservedly to the victim in this case."

He said Ryan's role was "far less significant" than Rogerson in the attack. It was "out of character."     

Judge O'Brien said that during the incident the barman could be seen on CCTV to be "very distressed and scared. He was crying and it was little wonder given what he was subjected to. He said he didn't know whether he was able to shrug this off."