Disabled man beaten with beer bottle in horror hotel robbery

A disabled man was beaten with a glass bottle in a horrific robbery at his Southport hotel room just months before he passed away.

Victim Peter Keppie sadly died three months after the incident which happened in August 2021.

A court has heard this week how he spent his final weeks in pain.

A judge was told how 36 year old Mr Keppie was followed into his room at the Scarisbrick Hotel on Lord Street by his eventual attacker Stephen Earle around 10am in the morning last August.

Mr Keppie was living at the hotel while awaiting an operation for a congenital back problem.

Stephen Earle, also 36, followed him to his room and was seen carrying two Desperado beer bottles.

The court was told how Earle shut the door behind them and asked Mr Keppie if he could buy valium from him, and offered to give him cocaine.

He began to rifle through Mr Keppie’s belongings looking for his medication, before asking for cash and taking Mr Keppie’s bank card from his wallet. The defendant then struck Mr Keppie on the head with the bottom of one of the beer bottles.

“Mr Keppie struggled but the defendant struck him again with the beer bottle on the arm, leg and foot.”

The attack caused serious bruising to Mr Keppie, but Earle, of no fixed address, was not finished and followed by “ransacking” the room.

Mr Keppie was found by his mum a few hours later in visible distress. He was taken to Southport hospital and spent 10 days being treated for his injuries.

His death is not thought to be directly linked to the attack.

Judge Brandon, passing sentence, described Earle as a “violent bully” and said she had “no hesitation” in finding that Earle met the legal definition of “dangerousness” under sentencing legislation.

She said: “You have demonstrated not one shred of remorse for harm you have caused. One particularly troubling feature of this case is that, notwithstanding the fact you were on bail for other violent offences, you targeted a vulnerable man because you knew he was unable to protect himself.”

Judge Brandon passed an extended sentence of 11 years and three months for the robbery with an additional five years on licence. She also handed him an additional 17 months for the assaults.