The dad was said to have had ‘bad blood’ with his victim but the reasons behind his ‘wanton violence’ remain unclear
Aaron Terry, of Ferrey Road in Fazakerley, aged 32(Image: Merseyside Police)
A dad spotted a woman who he had “bad blood” with alone outside a pub at night and viciously knocked her out without warning. Aaron Terry repeatedly punched his “helpless” victim in the head before rendering her unconscious with a sickening knee to the face.
The reasons behind his “alarming and distressing” assault remain unclear. But a judge today, Thursday, December 11, said of his “wanton” attack: “The courts will not tolerate unprovoked violence in such a sustained, aggressive way, particularly against women.”
Liverpool Crown Court heard that complainant Nikita Blake was standing alone outside the Blarney Stone pub on Renshaw Street in Liverpool city centre on the evening of April 27 this year. However, CCTV footage then showed Terry, of Ferrey Road in Fazakerley, and a second man approaching her.
Georgiana Panteli, prosecuting, described how the 32-year-old defendant grabbed Ms Blake by the neck and took her to the ground. He then repeatedly punched her before striking her to the head with his knee.
Ms Blake, whom he was said to have known from childhood, was rendered unconscious as a result of this blow, with members of the public rushing to her aid and calling 999. Terry was previously handed a detention and training order for violent disorder in 2011 before receiving a suspended prison sentence for production of cannabis in 2014.
Jim Smith, defending, told the court: “He is someone who has a qualification in civil engineering. He works in construction. His family depend very much on his income. Any loss of employment by virtue of an immediate custodial sentence would lead to difficulties in relation to maintaining the payments for that accommodation.
“He has no recent convictions. He is a primary carer for dependent children. There has been no offending for the last seven months. Your honour can step back from the ultimate sanction of immediate custody. He is in work. He is able to pay compensation.”
Terry admitted one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Appearing in the dock wearing a white shirt and black tie, one woman in the public gallery was seen in tears as he was jailed for two years.
Sentencing, Recorder William Waldron KC said: “On the 27th of April 2025, an attack took place outside a public house on Renshaw Street in Liverpool. That attack was captured by CCTV footage. It reveals the victim standing in what appears to be a perfectly acceptable way outside the public house, in conversation with someone.
“But she is left by the person to whom she has been speaking. Very shortly thereafter, you, in company with another man, appear. You then take her forcefully around her neck and, in my judgement, deliberately put her to the ground.
“The reason that you put her to the ground was because you intended to attack her. The footage shows you saying something to the victim before punching her extremely forcefully to the head.
“There is then a pause of some seconds. You do the same thing again. There is then a pause of some seconds. You repeat the exercise, all blows aimed at the head, the most vulnerable area of the body.
“What then happens is this, and it was alarming and distressing to see for anybody on the street that night and anybody viewing the footage. You reposition yourself so that you are in front of this lone woman out on the streets of Liverpool. You then use your knee as a weapon and strike her with vicious force, again to the face and head area.
“She loses conscious and is lying prone on the ground. I do not accept, having viewed the CCTV footage, that this was a fleeting or momentary loss of consciousness. It is difficult to see precisely how long the victim remains unconscious, but it is probably in the region of 10 to 20 seconds as members of the public attend to her.
“There is no medical evidence in the case. There is no statement from the victim, Ms Blake, who was known to you from childhood. Notwithstanding that, in my judgement, any loss of consciousness caused by a blow to the head represents a serious physical injury.
“The brain has effectively shut down for a period. It goes without saying, in my judgement, that any such attack, causing loss of consciousness, will have had a substantial impact on the victim. This was a victim with her own difficulties.
“I note from the content of the pre-sentence report that you are said to have flawed thinking and to be aggressive. However, you are a man who is capable of good things. I have no doubt about that. You are a man who wants to be a dedicated father. I have no doubt about that. You are a man about whom people speak well. Again, no doubt about that.
“She was a vulnerable victim, because she was a lone woman on a public street at night. This was a persistent assault. The victim was sitting helplessly on the floor. There was serious physical injury, as described, and, in my judgement, a substantial impact on the victim.
“Based upon the pre-sentence report, there is an argument for saying that there is a reasonable prospect of rehabilitation. Probation believe that you do represent a risk to the victim and the public.
“You have personal mitigation, and I understand fully that there will be harm and impact, possibly significant impact, upon your family. I know that you have a little one, aged just one, coming up to two, with kidney problems. I accept that Mr Terry, I do.
“But, having reflected on it long and hard, there are some offences that are so serious that an immediate custodial sentence is necessary. This is one of them.
“The public are entitled to know that they will be protected from this sort of wanton violence on the streets at night. The courts will not tolerate unprovoked violence in such a sustained, aggressive way, particularly against women who venture out onto the streets on their own.”
Terry was also handed a restraining order which will prevent him from contacting Ms Blake for five years. Recorder Waldron added of this: “There is clearly bad blood between you for some reason unidentified.”