Last updated 19:41, Thursday, 20 March 2008

A MAN described as a danger to the public has been jailed for two and a half years for attacking his own stepfather in a Silloth pub.

David Low, 42, had numerous offences of violence among his 114 previous convictions and had been labelled a danger by judges on previous court appearances.

A judge at Carlisle Crown Court on Wednesday reinforced that description when he used new laws on the dangerousness of offenders to impose a stiffer-than-usual sentence.

Most defendants serve only half their sentences in prison before automatically being released on licence.

But Low will have to serve all his 30-month sentence unless, after serving half of it, he can convince the parole board that he is no longer a danger.

Even when he is released he will be on licence for two years – a longer period than usual – so that he will be sent back into prison if he causes any more trouble.

The court heard that Terrance Low had gone to the Cumberland Inn in Silloth to calm his stepson down when he heard he was causing trouble there.

But instead of calming down, David Low knocked his stepfather to the floor, kicked him and repeatedly hit him with a barstool, which he swung so wildly at him that he damaged the ceiling above his head.

David Low, of Beaconsfield Terrace, Silloth, pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm and to smashing three of the pub’s windows when the landlord refused to let him back in.

The court was told that at the time of his attack on his stepfather David Low was out on licence from a prison sentence imposed for assaulting two elderly men.

In mitigation, defence barrister Russell Davies said the incident in the pub had been caused by David Low drinking too much after hearing that his partner, who has since died, was terminally ill.

“He knows he needs help, and poses a risk of re-offending but he is also frustrated that he has not been receiving the help courts have said he should receive in the past,” he said.

Judge Peter Hughes QC told Low: “You obviously pose a serious danger, particularly to those who are older, weaker or more vulnerable than you.”

He said he would recommend that Low be sent to one of the few prisons where treatment is available for the type of mental problems from which he suffers.