Morecambe boy left scarred for life after attack

A teenage boy has been scarred for life on his face after two violent men, who mistakenly believed he or his friend had smashed a window, attacked him.
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Jamie Michael Robert Gallagher, 29, Sanders Grove, Morecambe, and Andrew James Kelly, 34, of HMP Berwyn, Wrexham, were found guilty of assault with intent to commit robbery, following a trial before Preston Crown Court.

Gallagher was also found guilty of possessing offensive weapons - a golf club and cricket bat.

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Three Morecambe men jailed for total of 40 years after armed robberies
Andrew KellyAndrew Kelly
Andrew Kelly
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Their denials put the boy, 16, through a two year ordeal awaiting the court case.

He was attacked on Sefton Road in the resort on Boxing Day, 2018, and left bleeding heavily from a serious cut near his eye.

During the attack he asked them why they were " doing this to him at Christmas time".

Prosecuting, Mark Stephenson said his new Christmas clothes, worth £600, were ruined because they were covered in blood.

Preston Crown CourtPreston Crown Court
Preston Crown Court
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The large cut needed seven stitches and he has been left with an inch long scar for life.

Both men are now beginning five and a half year jail terms.

In a statement the boy said before the attack he had suffered with his mental health and had been avoiding going out, with this being one of the first times he had ventured out.

He added: " This attack knocked me right back again."

The teenager suffered flashbacks and couldn't sleep.

Judge Heather Lloyd, sentencing, remarked on how Kelly had gone on to commit a violent robbery a few weeks after the attack, for which he was now in prison, and that neither had shown remorse.

She said: " You both have an unenviable record for violence and dishonesty.

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" Had they both been charged in a timely way there is a possibility, the robbery he is imprisoned for would not have occurred, and it's because of their denials that this case took so long to come to trial.

"Neither of you admitted any offences in all that time and that is the reason for the two year delay - and no defendant can benefit from a delay which is effectively of his own making."

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