A masked man burst into a pub brandishing a fake gun before being thrown out by an elderly drinker.
The startled barman ducked in terror as Jake Spencer pointed the imitation firearm at him and told him "you have till 12 to pay the money". It came only hours after he and Kenny Scott had chased the worker out of the same Liverpool city centre watering hole and battered him inside a nearby Tesco store.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this afternoon, Thursday, that the incident on the evening of January 11 this year was preceded by another attack at around 11am on the same date. Zahra Baqri, prosecuting, described how Jack Donaldson had not long started his shift behind the bar at the Blarney Stone on Renshaw Street when Spencer and Scott entered the premises.
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This followed an altercation a few weeks prior, which saw one of the friends ejected from the pub. The two men proceeded to attack the staff member, with 25-year-old Scott - of Robertson Street in Dingle - throwing the first punch.
Mr Donaldson fled the pub and, after stumbling outside in the street, "sought refuge" inside the Tesco Express store on Mount Pleasant. He was followed by the defendants, who continued their assault as they pursued him around the shop.
Several punches were thrown in the aisles of the convenience store, with 22-year-old Spencer - of Bridgewater Street, Baltic Triangle - kicking out at him and knocking him to the floor at one stage. Mr Donaldson was then subjected to further kicks and punches as he lay on the ground.
Scott shouted "you are getting stabbed or shot" as the pair ran away from scene. Mr Donaldson suffered a fractured cheekbone and later underwent surgery to correct the damage.
Then, at around 5.15pm, his assailants returned to the pub. They "loitered outside" for several minutes with their faces covered before Spencer entered and pointed an imitation firearm at the worker, causing him to duck.
The gunman was heard to say "you have till 12 to pay the money" before CCTV footage showed him being swiftly forced out of the pub by a regular, who had been walking past the door with a pint in hand at that moment. Customers inside told police they were "terrified" and "believed there was going to be a shooting", while others said their minds had been taken to the killing of Elle Edwards outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey, Wirral, on Christmas Eve last year when "confronted with the situation".
Spencer and Scott were arrested at their addresses the same evening, with armed police surrounding the Baltic Studios apartment where the former lived. Spencer attempted to flee their clutches and slammed a door on an officer's hand during a struggle before being detained.
The weapon, described as a "ball bearing gun or air pistol", was recovered from his flat alongside shotgun cartridges. Scott told detectives under interview that Mr Donaldson owed him £100, but said he was unaware that Spencer was armed.
Spencer has one previous conviction for three offences. Peter Killen, defending, told the court: "He hasn't been in any trouble like this before. There is here a show of clear remorse. I ask the court to take into account his age and a level of immaturity.
"This offending is out of character for him. He had a very difficult upbringing and to some extent has been desensitized to violence by all he has seen over the years. He has plans for his future. The prospects of rehabilitation in this young man are good."
Scott, a dad to a seven-year-old son, has five previous convictions for six offences. Ian Whitehurst said on his behalf: "He has had time to reflect.
"He committed this offence while intoxicated. It is no excuse, but it is some explanation for the conduct of this defendant on the day in question. He is now drug-free. He has started to change his life and has done so of his own free will.
"He is still a young man and relatively lightly convicted. He now realise it is time for him to grow up and start providing for his son and his family."
Spencer admitted possession of an imitation firearm, inflicting grievous bodily harm and assaulting an emergency services worker and was jailed for 32 months. Scott pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm and was imprisoned for 20 months.
Sentencing, Recorder Peter Cowan said: "This was an attack in a public house on an employee, somebody providing a service to members of the public. You produced, for all intents and purposes, what looked to be a real gun which could go off at any moment.
"Luckily, customers managed to intervene and out you were. I can only hope you do wake up and press the reset button on your lives."
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