A thug slashed a man across the face in the pool room of a Fairfield pub in a brutal "revenge" attack.
Robert Cain, 54, took a Stanley knife from his pocket as he approached Robert Nichols in the Shiel Park pub at around 4.25pm on April 6, 2023. The two men exchanged words, and Cain left the pool table area and went into the bar, before returning moments later and knifing Mr Nichols' right cheek.
The incident occurred while Cain, of Stanley Road, Everton, was on bail for assaulting an emergency services worker.
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He appeared from HMP Altcourse at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday July 6, where he pleaded guilty to section 18 wounding causing grievous bodily harm and possession of a bladed article in a public place.
CCTV was played to the court showing Cain, dressed in a red jacket, taking the knife from his trouser pocket and hiding it in his sleeve behind his back as he talked briefly with Mr Nichols, who was sitting at a table.
After slashing him across the face, he ran out of the pub, leaving Mr Nichols with his face and hand covered in blood.
He was taken to Royal Liverpool Hospital, where he needed 30 stitches to treat the 15cm gash in his cheek. He informed police that he knew Cain and that the assault was due to a drugs debt, but declined to make a formal statement.
Prosecutor Nardeen Nemat said: "Days later, (Cain) returned to to the Shiel Park and asked to speak to the manager. He asked if there was CCTV and if he was identifiable on the footage."
When the landlady ordered him to leave, he said: "I only did it because he beat up two women."
Ms Nemat told the court Cain had 24 previous convictions for 50 offences, including affray, assault, robbery and harassment. She said: "He was last before the courts on March 17 2023 for the battery assault of an emergency services worker. He was on bail at the time of committing this present offence. This is the defendant's third possession of a bladed weapon offence."
Lloys Morgan, defending, said: "His strongest mitigation is a guilty plea in the magistrates court."
Sentencing Cain, Judge David Knifton said: "You approached Robert Nichols as he was seated in a pub in Liverpool, you produced a Stanley knife from your back pocket and you slashed him violently to his right cheek. That resulted in a deep lacertation, measuring between 10 and 15cm, which required no fewer than 30 stitches in hospital and left him with a permanent scar.
"The motice for that attack is not entirely clear, but may well stem from a drug debt.
"You have an appalling criminal record, no fewer than 24 convictions for a total 50 offences. You were furthermore on bail at the time of the commission of this offence, and this is your third conviction of possession of a bladed article. These offences are part of an established pattern of violent offending behaviour involving the use or threat of weapons."
He added that Cain had "an extensive history of drug and alchol abuse" and that his behaviour "indicates some form of antisocial personality disorder", according to a doctor's report.
He said "You're a highly impulsive individual who will turn to extreme violence if provoked.
"This was a revenge attack and it, in my view, involved a significant degree of planning. You had clearly taken that knife to the pub and it's clear it was produced some time prior to you attacking Mr Nichols."
He sentenced Cain to a total of six years in prison, extended by four years to a total of 10 years.
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