Man spared custody after ‘disgusting’ violent Keswick attacks

A young man who carried out two violent attacks in Keswick more than a year apart has been spared immediate custody.

Barry Grant Loan, now 21, was involved in verbal exchanges before both incidents, Carlisle Crown Court heard today.

On October 6, 2019, Loan left James Bellis unconscious after punching him twice in the face outside a town coffee shop. The victim’s mother then watched in horror as Loan kicked him in the head as he lay defenceless on the ground before an off-duty nurse stepped in to offer first aid.

Mr Bellis suffered bruising and tenderness to his jaw, cheekbone and nose, and spoke in the aftermath about the attack having a “massive” impact on him, with hearing problems and anxiety.

While on bail, in November 2020, Loan turned violent again after a verbal exchange with bike-riding Christopher Alston had initially ended in handshakes. As Loan and two accomplices returned to the scene, masked and carrying weapons, Mr Alston surrendered the £400 bike.

He tried to run off but an ankle injury hampered his escape. Loan, the “ringleader”, told him: “On your knees.”‬‪

“Mr Alston did kneel and comments at that point he thought he was going to be killed,” said prosecutor Brendan Burke. “In the lead role, Mr Loan hit him with a piece of pipe to the back, the kidney area.”‬

After an accomplice struck him with a spanner, Loan hit him a second time with the pipe to his back.‬‪ Mr Alston, whose bike was stolen, spoke afterwards about not sleeping, thinking about what happened and fearing for the safety of his partner and young child.

‪Loan, of Rickerby Lane, Portinscale, near Keswick, later admitted two assault actual bodily harm offences and theft. ‬‪Recorder Paul Hodgkinson read a raft of background material about Loan, including specialist reports, positive character references and letters.

Since the incidents, said defence barrister Rachel Oakdene, he had “identified and addressed his failings”, and distanced himself from peers.‬ “Mr Loan is a very different individual from the person who in 2019 and 2020 was behaving disgracefully on the streets of Keswick,” said Ms Oakdene.

‪After taking ‬time to consider his sentence and hearing Loan had been electronically tagged since December 2020, Recorder Hodgkinson suspended 24-months’ custody for two years, saying he had come “incredibly close” to prison.

Loan must complete a four-month nighttime curfew, 180 hours’ unpaid work and pay Mr Alston £500 compensation.‬‪ Recorder Hodgkinson observed the kneeling demand had been “needless, disgusting degradation”, adding: “All of these offences are terrible, disgusting, shameful.”‬