Thug who attacked postman in Widnes jailed for two years

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Thug who attacked postman in Widnes put behind bars for two years

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Peter Holt, 31, of Harland Green in Liverpool, was sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Monday, October 13

Peter Holt, 31, of Harland Green, Liverpool, was given a two year prison sentence.

A THUG who broke a postman’s cheek and jaw during an unprovoked assault in Widnes has been sentenced to two years behind bars.

Peter Holt, 31, of Harland Green in Liverpool, appeared at Chester Crown Court on Monday, October 13.

He was sentenced by the Recorder Of Chester Elgin Edwards after pleading guilty to a section 20 grevious bodily harm charge at an earlier hearing.

John Oates, prosecuting, told the court that the victim – Joseph Keegan – had been in his work uniform in July last year as he left the Widnes depot in his Royal Mail van.

Mr Oates said that the victim saw a white van with blue lettering appear in front of the right side of his vehicle which forced him to stop and he wound down his window.

The defendant walked out of the van in ‘a state of rage’, the prosecution said, and then shouted at the victim to ‘get out of the van’ and swung a punch which hit the victim in the face.

Mr Oates said: “He was completely shocked by what was happening. The defendant continued to throw punches.”

After the van’s seatbelt was released – which Mr Oates said Holt had held onto – the victim was dragged out by his shirt and onto the floor, falling between the two parked cars.

The prosecution said: “The next thing he remembers was blows on the back of his head. He remembers receiving six or seven blows to the back of his head.”

Mr Oates added that Holt ‘was described by witnesses as calmly walking back to his own vehicle’ and that ‘the witnesses to the case all describe their considerable distress at what they were seeing’.

The victim was ‘badly injured’, Mr Oates said, with bruising to both sides of his face and fractures to his left cheekbone and left jaw, with the injuries sustained ‘consistent with being kicked and punched’.

Holt was interviewed twice by police, refusing to answer any questions on the first occasion and in a second interview claimed to have known the victim, played rugby with him and had been mocked by him.

However, Mr Oates said that the defence ‘accepted this was a complete cock and bull story that the defendant made up’.

Victim impact statements were seen by Judge Edwards – who said the incident was ‘a serious matter with serious injuries’ – and added that the victim had to change his job.

Jeremy Rawson, defending Holt, said: “He overreacted. He attacked the driver without any provocation. It is a moment of complete madness.

“It is very difficult to explain. He reacted wholly out of character. He regrets it bitterly.”

Mr Rawson added that his client has no previous convictions and that the incident involved ‘a lack of premeditation’.

Sentencing Holt, Judge Edwards said: “You attacked him seriously and you attacked him viciously.

“Custody is inevitable. You must serve that immediately.”