Boxer who attacked doorman at The Oxton Bar is jailed

Apr 22 2009 by Carrie Catterall, Birkenhead News

Liverpool Crown Court _60

AN INTERNATIONAL amateur boxer who attacked a doorman for making a false allegation against him has been jailed.

Liverpool crown court heard well-known boxer Edward Sarsfield was "provoked" into assaulting Dean Barry.

Three weeks earlier Mr Barry had accused dad-of-two Sarsfield of an extremely serious offence, but the court heard the allegation was unfounded.

When Sarsfield then bumped into Mr Barry, working at the Oxton Bar and Terrace, Oxton, he flew into a rage.

He began shouting and lunged towards him with a four inch blade, causing a cut to his chest.

Jailing him for 21 months, Judge Ian Trigger said: “I accept that there was a measure of provocation, which at least explains the start of this incident.”

But he told Sarsfield, who clutched a rosary: "You used that blade to lunge towards Mr Barry, mercifully he sustained no serious injury, but a moment's reflection will make anyone realise that you easily could have caused him serious injury, particularly as one sustained injury was in the region of his left chest."

Ian Harris, prosecuting, told the court Sarsfield continued to be aggressive and threatened to kill Mr Barry even when another bouncer, Christopher Merchant, tried to end the violence.

Sarsfield, who has one previous conviction for assault in1998, then burst into the main bar, scaring drinkers inside.

He was described by witnesses as “aggressive, wound up and really tense”.