Trio jailed for attempted murder after brawl in Beccles

On Monday, Nathan Baker, Lewis Aldridge and Daniel Hermon appeared to be sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court.

The trio were found guilty last month of the attempted murder of Julian Johnson, who they set upon in a revenge attack outside the Kings Head Hotel in Beccles in November last year.

They were charged after a car the three were in, driven by Baker, ran over Mr Johnson, who was found in the road with serious injuries at about 3am on November 18.

Nathan Baker (Image: Suffolk police)

During the trial, it was heard that Baker and Hermon got into a fight at the Wetherspoon pub, and that Mr Johnson had acted as peacemaker.

He was said to have sat down with Hermon and Baker and given them the benefit of his experience, telling them that such aggressive behaviour would land them in prison - there being a "dreadful irony" in those words, observed Judge Emma Peters.

Hermon and Baker then went to Southwold to collect Aldridge, and returned to the pub with knives, intending to seek revenge on another group which had acted aggressively towards them.

Lewis Aldridge (Image: Suffolk police)

The three attacked Mr Johnson as he walked home alone later that night. 

Giving evidence during the trial, Baker, 20, said that he, Aldridge, 27 and of Market Place in Southwold, and Hermon, 27, of the same address, jumped out of the car and beat Mr Johnson to the ground.

His phone was thrown some distance away.

Baker, of Quay Street, Halesworth, claimed that Hermon said “finish him off”.

As the three drove away, the car was steered over Mr Johnson, with both Baker and Hermon blaming each other for this during the trial.

Mr Johnson suffered fractures to his pelvis - which was "shattered" in several places - his ribs and vertebrae and could not move when he was found by police, who had been called by his partner, with whom he had been speaking on the phone when the attack took place.

Mr Johnson told the court that as he lay on the ground, he asked himself 'is this where it all ends?'

He spent more than a month in hospital, fearing that he may lose a leg, and is still unable to walk without crutches.

Daniel Hermon (Image: Suffolk police)

Mr Johnson spoke of how degrading it felt needing help with "absolutely everything", and how he believes he will never again work as a painter and decorator, given that he can no longer stand for more than 10 minutes.

Mr Johnson spent his 53rd birthday in hospital, rather than the party he had planned with his friends and family - at which he had intended to propose to his partner, Sonia.

Now, Mr Johnson said he is too fearful to go anywhere alone, and is unable to take part in many everyday activities such as walking down to the sea with his stepchildren. 

Counsel for Baker said that immaturity played a role in his poor decision-making that night, such as his failure to dial 999.

The Kings Head Hotel in Beccles (Image: Submitted)

It was said that, when they arrived back in Southwold, they "all sat crying on the bed together".

This was echoed by counsel for Hermon. "Terrible decisions made in moments that have had a ripple effect on too many people and will do so for a very long time indeed," she said. 

Judge Peters noted how the defendants had attempted to blame each other at trial, having "fought like rats in a sack".

As they set upon the "blameless" Mr Johnson, they "acted like a pack of dogs", Judge Peters said.

She sentenced Hermon, who she described as the "ring leader" to 18 years in prison. 

Aldridge and Baker were sentenced to 17 years for attempted murder, with Aldridge to serve one year concurrent to this for possession of a knife.

The three will serve two thirds of this time in custody.