Beaten pub manager wants protection for licensees

A Lancashire licensee has called for tougher deterrents for pub troublemakers, after the man who "nearly killed" him escaped prison.

Barrie Wearing, then manager of the Royal Butterfly, Burnley, was left with bleeding on his brain after Stephen Redfern, 25 of Williams Road, Burnley, attacked him, meaning he now struggles to cash up and remember his regulars.

Wearing had intervened in a row between Redfern and his partner when he was punched by Redfern, who had drunk 15 pints and taken cocaine earlier.

"If it wasn't for the quick actions of one of my customers, I'd be dead," said Wearing.

"I'm absolutely disgusted and the police are disgusted that he got off scot-free. He should have gone to prison."

At Burnley Crown Court, Judge Jonathan Gibson gave Redfern a deferred sentence on condition that he doesn't drink or take drugs for six months.

Judge Gibson said he felt his "hands were tied" as magistrates had given Redfern a suspended sentence just weeks before his Crown Court appearance for an assault on his girlfriend.

"The police have been fantastic," said Wearing. "It is the courts that aren't backing pubs and victims. As a landlord, if I put a foot wrong, I'm in big trouble. There isn't any protection for landlords."

Wearing moved to the Rhoden Inn, Oswaldtwistle, eight weeks ago after being advised to manage a quieter pub by his employer Bravo Inns.

"It is an occupational hazard," he said. "I'm not frightened but you have to be careful. I'll stay in the trade because I love it."