A man who walked into a Rainham pub with a fake gun before beating a man with a police baton has been jailed for two years.
At Snaresbrook Crown Court yesterday (Monday, March 26), James Marley, 25, of Gerard Gardens, Rainham, pleaded guilty to possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, having an offensive weapon in a public place and assault by beating.
The charges relate to an incident at the Bell Inn Pub in Rainham Broadway, on October 19 last year.
CCTV from inside the pub, played to the court, shows a bloodied man making his way into the pub at around 9.25pm.
While he is being tended to by customers, Marley enters the premises.
Prosecutor Jonathan Loades described the rest of the footage to the court before it was played for the first time.
He said: “The pictures paint a thousand words and need little commentary from myself, but in simple terms the defendant walks into a public place, a pub, with the imitation gun down by his side in his right hand, clearly visible.
“He approaches the victim, who from some angles is seen to be backing away as if he knew something was about to kick off.
“He then transfers the gun to his left hand, brings out the asp and racks it before carrying out the assault.”
The victim, Richard Barlow, refused to give police a statement, but was described as “drunk, confrontational and aggressive” by police officers.
Marley claimed the attack was retaliation for an assault Mr Barlow carried out on one of Marley’s friends outside the pub.
None of that confrontation was caught on camera.
Passing sentence, Judge Paul Southern accepted that Marley’s personal circumstances meant he had been acting erratically at the time of the incident, and noted that he had completed drugs and alcohol awareness courses while remanded in custody.
He said: “In October 2017 he was at a real low ebb.
“He had lost his father to cancer in May of that year, and this set him on a path of destructive behaviour that he accepts was wrong.
“It is to his credit that he’s used his time in prison constructively with an eye to his future.”
Havering Council revoked The Bell Inn’s licence as a result of the incident.
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