Liam Hunter, a 27-year-old father, has been jailed for 28 months after smashing a bottle of blue WKD over his neighbour's head, leaving the victim with permanent scars and requiring hospital treatment for arterial bleeding. The attack occurred on December 8 last year in St Helens, just months after Hunter received a suspended sentence for carrying a knife in public.
Attack Followed Argument Between Victim and Fiancée
Liverpool Crown Court heard that both Hunter and his neighbour Christopher Tuffy had visited the Go Local shop on Parr Stocks Road. Tuffy had a brief conversation with his ex-girlfriend as he left, which led to a row with his current partner as they walked home. Hunter, who had been following nearby, intervened when the couple arrived at their home.
Prosecutor Sarah Gruffydd described how Tuffy's fiancée stormed off, and Hunter walked onto their driveway, threatening: "I'll hit you with this bottle. I'll stick it in you." Hunter was holding a small bottle of blue WKD by the base, then switched to gripping the neck. Tuffy tried to usher him away, but a tussle ensued, with both men ending up on the floor.
Victim Suffered Arterial Bleeding
Hunter pulled Tuffy's vest over his face and punched him several times to the head, then struck him over the top of the head with the glass bottle, causing it to smash. Tuffy was left covered in blood. Other residents, including an 11-year-old child, witnessed the assault. Hunter fled via the rear of his home before police arrived.
Officers applied four layers of bandages, but the wounds continued to bleed through. At hospital, Tuffy was found to have two small lacerations and a "large, full thickness wound with arterial bleeding" requiring stitches. In a victim statement, Tuffy said his "clothes were soaked in blood" and he was "distressed by the sight of blood spattering on the walls of the hospital due to the severity of the bleeding." He was so disoriented that he discharged himself against advice and walked barefoot in a medical gown to a train station. He added, "He felt that he had to stay away from his children so they did not see the extent of the injury to his head. His home no longer feels like a safe space for him."
Previous Convictions and Sentencing
Hunter had four previous convictions, including a 12-month suspended sentence for possession of a bladed article in September 2025. Defence barrister Anna Duke argued that Hunter suffers from PTSD and ADHD, causing him to act on impulse. She noted he had been in custody for nearly seven months and had used the time to secure a job and undertake courses. She asked for a further suspended sentence or the minimum term.
Recorder Richard Pratt KC sentenced Hunter to 28 months in prison and imposed a five-year restraining order. He said: "On that occasion, you saw fit to involve yourself in what was a dispute between your ultimate victim and his companion for the night. They appeared to be having an argument which plainly had nothing to do with you, certainly nothing that could justify the action you then took." He added that the victim "still bears, quite literally, the scars of that night." The recorder activated the previous suspended sentence, stating it was just to do so given the breach.
