Thug gets 21 months for Rowley Regis pub boss assault

Brian Palmer, who had a string of previous convictions for violence, had been asked to leave the Shoulder of Mutton in Rowley Regis.

He punched, bit and butted the landlord Ranjit Shocker, who has been left psychologically scarred as a result, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told. Palmer, from Stratford-upon-Avon, was handed a 21-month prison sentence.

The offence took place on November 6 last year when Palmer visited the Birmingham Road pub at 6pm. At first he and Mr Shocker got on well and played pool together, the court heard yesterday, but the situation soon changed after 26-year-old Palmer consumed at least three to four pints of alcohol and began to become rowdy.

Mr David Lees, prosecuting, said: "In general terms he was being a nuisance." At 8.45pm, staff were told to stop serving Palmer and soon after, Mr Shocker asked him to leave, adding that he was welcome to come back the following day.

Mr Lees added: "At that point, the defendant's demeanour changed dramatically. He became obstructive and aggressive."

Palmer lunged at the landlord and bit him on the chest, before punching him, biting his nose and following that up with a head-butt.

Customers came to Mr Shocker's aid, and the defendant ran away, before the landlord went to hospital. The court was shown CCTV of the attack, and a victim impact statement from Mr

Shocker was read by Mr Lees, who said that the landlord had become more of a recluse and now wanted to give up his publican career.

Palmer, of Meadow Close, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He had 12 previous sentences for 26 offences, including a similar incident of attacking a landlord and other convictions for burglary and possessing a knife.

In mitigation, Mr Malcolm Fowler told the court: "He is on the cusp of being an established family man.

"What we have here is a history of a defendant who's mixed in circles where alcohol has featured largely."

As well as his 21-month prison sentence, Palmer was banned from visiting the Shoulder of Mutton for two years.

In sentencing him, Recorder Peter Cooke ignored Mr Fowler's plea for a suspended sentence and said that landlords were entitled to the protection of the court.