View Image

An "amiable" chat in a pub between strangers turned to violence when a thug left a man covered in blood. After drinking and playing pool together, Leon Burgess walked with the man to a train station before launching a vicious attack on him on a railway bridge.

Snatching the man's wallet, Burgess fled to a nearby Tesco and used his victim's bank card to buy more booze. Despite his despicable act, he now says he wants to become an "honourable citizen".

John McKeon was "tipsy" after drinking six pints of lager in a pub in the Earlestown area of St Helens on October 21 last year, Liverpool Crown Court heard. During the evening, he began "chatting with" Burgess, with the two men continuing to drink and play pool together.

Zahra Baqri, prosecuting, described how Mr McKeon la

See Full Page