'Dangerous' Brampton thug made chilling threats after his arrest

After the second and more serious attack, which left a man with two punctured lungs and broken bones, Matthew James Kerr, 32, boasted about “stamping” on the victim’s head and then told the police officers dealing with him: “If I’m let out, I’ll slit his throat; I’ll kill him.”

The  thug was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court after he admitted an actual bodily harm assault on December 26 last year, and an offence of intentionally causing another man grievous bodily harm the following day.

Gerard Rogerson, prosecuting, outlined the facts.

The first victim was driving slowly towards the Co-op car park near Brampton town centre on the afternoon of December 26 because he intended to buy somebody a birthday card.

As he prepared to turn into the car park entrance road, the man noticed a woman driver coming out on to the main road and so stopped to let her out. Kerr was walking past and immediately began yelling at the man.

The driver suggested that Kerr could just walk round his car.

But the defendant was immediately aggressive, accusing the driver of “trying to run him over”. Kerr then began punching the man through the car’s open window and tried to headbutt him.

As he continued his violence, Kerr screamed: “Nobody tells me what to do,” 

The violence was so persistent that the driver fled from his car and ran towards Brampton, with Kerr chasing after him, yelling: “If I see you again, I’ll *** kill you.” The victim was left with cuts and bruises.

The following day, shortly after 11pm, another man, who had known Kerr for only five days, was at his home in Brampton when he heard loud banging on his door. The door was being banged and kicked so ferociously that the man feared it would come off its hinges, said Mr Rogerson.

“The man said Mr Kerr sounded crazy, so he grabbed his phone and keys and climbed out of a bedroom window, climbed over a fence and ran away, heading towards the Co-op,” said the prosecutor.

But Kerr caught up with him and attacked him, kicking and punching him even after he had fallen to the ground. The defendant fled when a woman motorist saw the victim on the road and slowed.

Acting as good Samaritans, she and her partner tried to help, the victim asking them to stay with him while the police were called. “While they were helping him, Mr Kerr returned and he put [the victim] on the floor,” continued Mr Rogerson.

“He then further assaulted him. The man was kicked repeatedly and lost consciousness.”

Mr Rogerson then read from a transcript of Kerr’s police interview. He told the officers: “I stamped all over his head. If it wasn’t for that car trying to run me over I would have snapped his neck.

“If you let me out, I’ll do a proper job. If you let me out, I’ll slit his throat; I’ll kill him and it will be all on you… drink makes me ill, not very well in the head. I just flip in the head. I’ve not seen anyone for support or diagnosis since I was 18.”

Kerr blamed the second victim for the disappearance of a friend’s laptop, he said.

As well as his lung punctures, the man suffered rib injuries, and a broken collar bone, which may need further surgery. He spoke in his victim impact statement of not feeling safe in his own home.

“He no longer ventures out at night because he was attacked in the dark,” said Mr Rogerson. Suffering long term pain, he struggled to sleep and on one occasion felt he needed a hammer at his bedside to feel safe.

“I don’t why he did it,” added the man.

Anthony Parkinson, for Kerr, said that the defendant grew up in a household where the only way conflict was resolved was through violence. He had seen violence against his mother on many occasions.

The victim of Kerr’s last wounding offence in 2012 was his father. “Comments made to me suggest that was retribution for all the years he suffered at the hands of him; and all the years his mother suffered at the hands of him,” said the barrister.

The impact of that upbringing should not be underestimated, said Mr Parkinson, adding that Kerr had expressed remorse.

Judge Nicholas Barker said of the first assault: "The violence erupted out of nothing."

Describing the intentional wounding offence the following day, Judge Barker said: “It can be described as a brutal, sustained and frenzied attack - the second incident of a sustained, brutal attack within just over 24 hours.

“It involved numerous punches and significant kicks while he was on the ground; you repeatedly went back to him. It’s clear from the CCTV that he was vulnerable.” The judge noted the domestic violence of Kerr’s upbringing, and how he had abused cocaine, steroids, heroin and alcohol.

A doctor had concluded that most of Kerr’s offending occurred when he was under the influence of substances and he will continue to pose a moderate to  high risk of violence if he fails to address that.

“In other words,” said the judge, “you do represent a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm.”

Concluding that Kerr, of Stanley Road, Brampton, is dangerous, the judge jailed him for six and a half years, saying Kerr must serve at least two thirds of that sentence and can only be released when deemed safe by the Parole Board.

His licence period - when he will be at risk of recall to jail - will continue for 36 months after his six and half year sentence expires.