Jake Pennington has been given four-year sentence and subsequent five-year ban from a Union Street nightspot after he wounded two men who were ‘doing their duty’
A man has been jailed for four years and banned from setting foot in Union Street nightspot Jesters for another five years after attacking two doormen with a knife. Plymouth Crown Court heard how Jake Pennington, aged 34, wounded the two men when they tried to chuck him out after he got into a fight.
The court heard how Pennington, who had two previous convictions for carrying “a bladed article” slashed the doormen with a weapon described as possibly a Stanley knife or something similar.
One man received cuts to his wrist, thumb and stomach, the other had wounds to his thigh and knee.
Both men suffered psychological issues as a result of the assault. Judge Robert Linford told Pennington he had injured two men who “were doing nothing more than their duty to try to keep the people in that club safe”.
The court heard how Pennington visited Jesters and was attacked inside the club by another man in the early hours of April 16, 2023. The door staff intervened and were in the process of ejecting both men from the club when Pennington pulled the knife in the foyer at about 3.30am.
The two doormen were then injured and Pennington fled the scene but was later identified by police who tracked him to a property in the city following a public appeal,
Pennington, of no fixed abode, was charged with two counts of section 18, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He was further charged with being in possession of a bladed article – namely a knife – and a further charge of causing actual bodily harm.
Appearing at Plymouth Crown Court on May 22 Pennington pleaded guilty to one count of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, one count of wounding without intent to cause grievous bodily harm and one count of possession of a bladed article.
He also pleaded guilty to another charge of common assault.
He pleaded not guilty to two counts of causing grievous bodily harm without intent, one count of grievous bodily harm with intent and one count of actual bodily harm.
Sentencing Pennington, the judge mentioned his previous “highly relevant” convictions. He sentenced him to three years in prison for wounding with intent, and a further year for wounding without intent, with the sentences to run consecutively.
He received a six-month sentence for carrying the knife, but was told that in total he would spend four years behind bars. The judge added: “You will not enter Jesters for the next five years.”
Source – Plymouth Herald