Benjamin Fitzsimmons engaged in a brutal spate of violence in 2023 which led to a pub blaze and a house being peppered with bullets
Benjamin Fitzsimmons, previously of Altcross Road, Croxteth(Image: Merseyside police)
A man who stabbed a landlord sparking a chain of events which saw the pub gutted in a blaze has died in prison after a “fire”. Benjamin Fitzsimmons engaged in a brutal spate of violence throughout May and June 2023, slashing a singing pensioner across the head and face, headbutting and kicking a woman at a health centre during a drunken rage, before proceeding to his local pub, the Lobster in Croxteth, where he threatened to stab drinkers before plunging a knife into the landlord’s back.
His allies came out to bat for him, threatening the pub’s owner and his staff that if they complied with Merseyside Police’s investigations, then the building would be burnt down. Fitzsimmons pleaded guilty to the series of offences and was jailed in October 2023.
But days later the pub was torched by masked arsonists. And the intimidation continued in the following weeks, with the pub’s owner’s gated West Derby house being peppered with bullets by two motorbike-riding thugs.
The ECHO can exclusively reveal Fitzsimmons died last month at category B prison HMP Garth in Lancashire.
Authorities have not confirmed the cause of death but sources have told the ECHO the 47-year-old died in a fire. A Lancashire Constabulary spokesperson said the death was currently being treated as unexplained and an investigation has been launched.
A Prison Service spokesperson told the ECHO: “Benjamin Fitzsimmons died on 24 September 2025 at HMP Garth. As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate.”
Ombudsman Adrian Usher added: “Mr Fitzsimmons died on 24 September 2025 at HMP Garth. My investigation has begun, and I will publish my final report once his inquest has concluded.”
Fire damage in The Lobster pub, Moss Way, Croxteth
Lancashire Constabulary said: “We were called by the North West Ambulance Service at 8.24pm on 24th September to HMP Garth, Ulnes Walton Lane, Leyland, to a report that a man had been found unresponsive.
“The emergency services attended and very sadly a 47-year-old man was pronounced deceased at the scene. Our thoughts are with his family at this distressing time. The death is currently being treated as unexplained and our enquiries are continuing.”
Fitzsimmons boasted a disgraceful record which dated back to 1991 and amounted to dozens of convictions for more than 100 offences including rape and robbery.
He was subject to two separate suspended prison sentences at the time of the Lobster pub offences – one for possession of a bladed article in a public place and racially aggravated harassment and another for a public order matter.
Appearing in court in October 2023, he pleaded guilty to two counts of assault causing grievous bodily harm, assault causing actual bodily harm, possession of a blade and affray.
Fitzsimmons’ lawyer told Liverpool Crown Court that he had shown “genuine remorse” for his actions and had been an “exemplary prisoner” while on remand. But the judge, Garrett Byrne, found Fitzsimmons was a dangerous offender and handed him an extended 11 year prison sentence.
Sentencing, Judge Byrne said: “On May 31 you attacked Ronald Morris with a knife. He was 67-years-old at the time and he was walking home at 11.30pm after being out drinking, and he was singing.
“He was unlucky enough to walk past your house and you saw him, you armed yourself with a knife and viciously attacked him, cutting him to the face and then cutting him to the head. Photographs of the injuries show the extent of the harm caused and they are shocking.
“On June 21, a matter of three weeks later, you attacked Olivia Rogers., You head butted her to the face and kicked her. She suffered swelling to her left eye. You then went to a venue from which you have been barred.
Police investigators at the scene at The Lobster pub in Croxteth after a fire (Image: Liverpool ECHO)
“You made verbal threats to stab people, you grabbed a customer by the throat and threatened him with a knife. Peter Lanes approached you and you threatened to burn down his pub. You lashed out and struck him in the face. You pulled out a knife and stabbed him to the top of his back, causing a five-inch slash mark.”
Fitzsimmons had repeatedly graced the pages of the ECHO over the years with his litany of offences fuelled by his alcohol and drug dependency.
He was also said to have become a “pariah” in his local Croxteth area after being arrested in connection with a friend’s murder. He was later cleared of any involvement but rumours persisted.
HMP Garth was criticised by the HM Inspectorate of Prisons in a report published last August. The inspectors found the prison had become “noticeably less safe” and a number of the wings were “feeling chaotic”, with the ingress of drugs creating an illicit economy where debts were enforced through violence.