Suffolk pub customers heard ‘loud thud’ as man hit by axe

Customers at a Suffolk pub have described their fear and disbelief as a man attacked a fellow drinker with an axe, hitting him with a “horrible, smashing sound”.  Witnesses told Ipswich Crown Court they heard a “loud thud” as the axe went into the victim’s head at the Bell Hotel in Clare on March 19 last year.  David Perry, of St Margarets Place, Stradishall, has denied a charge of attempted murder in relation to the incident, which left the victim with a gash to his head. 

He has pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon and wounding with the intent to do grievous bodily harm.  Emily Ford had been visiting the pub for a few drinks with her partner Harvey Broomhill and their friend Sonny Smith and told the court the group had spoken to Perry before the incident about the cold weather.  However, the trial heard the atmosphere soured when Perry became embroiled in an argument with a group of three males after asking them to stop joking about a female drinker, who was the victim’s second cousin. 

He is alleged to have burst back in through the front door brandishing the axe three minutes after being forcibly removed from the pub by the three men and bar staff, before running towards the victim to carry out the attack.  In a statement read to the court, Emily Ford said: “The noise of the axe hitting the man’s head and going inside his skull was awful and I will never forget it. I was terrified and ran out of the back door with the two people I was with.” 

Her boyfriend Mr Broomhill said Perry appeared to be drunk and had been “slumped over” at the bar, while his words had been slurred when he spoke to him.  He had heard Perry threaten to “break your jaw for you” after squaring up to the victim about the joking.  Subsequently, there was pushing and shoving involving the defendant and the three men leading to Perry being forced out of the pub. 

“When I saw him with the axe, I could not believe it at all. I felt scared watching him run with it. I heard a horrible, smashing sound,” Mr Broomhill added. 

Mr Smith described the sound as a “loud thud”, adding: “We were scared, it was a horrible thing to have seen and we did not know what to do.” Earlier, Scott Harris, one of the three friends, told the court they had met up to watch a rugby match on TV and had visited other pubs in the area before arriving at the Bell Hotel at around 7.30pm.  He said the men had tried to reassure Perry that they knew the female drinker, and that she was the victim’s cousin, prior to the attack. 

Perry was arrested after an off-duty police officer, PC Georgie Parrot, spotted his green and silver pick-up truck, which was seen in the pub car park, driving along Rougham Road in Bury St Edmunds. 

The victim, in his 30s, was taken to hospital and operated on and was left with brain injuries and shooting pains. 

The case continues.