Man with ‘real problems’ assaults A&E nurse, then fights police on floor

A father who was given a second chance after brutally assaulting another man with a concrete block has returned to his violent ways after “just weeks”.

Jonathan Kelly, of Oswalds Street, Old Swan, was given a 12-month suspended sentence in March after attacking the other man on a building site. On 1 February 2024, he was arrested again on another matter and taken by police to Whiston A&E Hospital, where a botched escape attempt led to a violent struggle at the hospital entrance.

At Liverpool Crown Court today, July 11, prosecutor Chris Hopkins said: “(Kelly) was compliant so the officers didn’t use handcuffs – but that allowed him to run away from the officers in the corridor. He reached the inner doors. A&E officers caught him, he fought with them, there was a struggle and both officers were injured.”

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One of the officers was pushed to the ground during the struggle and the other was kicked and suffered a bloody cut to his ear. A nurse, Victoria Booth, tried to help the officers and was punched in the face by Kelly as he attacked. CCTV of the incident was played in court, in which Kelly could be seen arguing with police on the floor before being taken into custody.

Mr Hopkins said: “The defendant was abusive. He called one of the officers and threatened to spit on them. Various people came to assist. They had to close the area. It took some time. . A very unpleasant incident in A&E at 2am.”

Kelly, 34, was arrested and released on bail following the incident. He appeared at Liverpool Crown Court in March where he was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, for his previous attack on the unnamed man on the construction site.

But he squandered his second chance when he failed to attend his probation appointments in April. At around 6pm on April 14, 2024, he was caught on camera brandishing a hatchet in the middle of Little Heath Road, Speke, in what is believed to have been a drug-related dispute. The 34-year-old could be seen gesturing aggressively at another man off camera before using the ax to vandalize a nearby car, hitting it several times and smashing the windows.

He pleaded guilty to the string of offences, including escape, three counts of assaulting an emergency worker, possession of a bladed article and breach of suspended sentence.

Kevin Liston, defending, said: “(Kelly) was not in a good place mentally at the time. He spent some time in a mental health facility in January of this year and unfortunately these events on February 1st were in the midst of that. troubled period.

“He went on to receive a suspended sentence in March this year. He admits he struggled to adapt, his mental health was unfortunately problematic and very quickly he was caught in the street brandishing an ax and causing vehicle damage. This was the cumulative effect of various problems, an abusive childhood, a lack of intervention and mental health problems.He has an unfortunate tendency to act impulsively and has used class A and B drugs in the past.

Sentencing Kelly, Judge Andrew Menary said the father had returned to his old ways “just weeks” after being given a “second chance”.

He said: “You have been given a 12-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, in the hope that you will deal with some of your outstanding issues. You have been given an opportunity with significant requirements. But an updated report indicates that after some early hope that you would commit, you then failed to show up for appointments in April, around the time you were committing the alleged crime.

“This is a serious offense against the backdrop of past offences. You are clearly someone who has real problems. Maybe there are underlying mental health issues, maybe you had a hard time growing up, but none of that excuses your behavior.”

He sentenced Kelly to two months in prison for his escape attempt and four months for each of the three attacks on police and Nurse Booth, to run concurrently. He also sentenced him to 12 months for possession of the ax and served the full 12-month suspended sentence, totaling two years and six months behind bars.

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