They played a game of pool... and he became 'hell bent on revenge' - soon people were begging him to stop

A man was stabbed in the face following a game of pool in the pub. The victim was repeatedly slashed by Ryan Povey while horrified onlookers begged him to stop.

The Liverpool Echo reports that the incident started with some "back and forth banter" but quickly turned into drunken violence.

Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday that Povey and Michael Toal were among a group who were out in Rock Ferry, Wirral, on the evening of August 17 this year, having known one another "through mutual friends for around 15 years". By the early hours of August 18, both were present in the Derby Arms pub on Nelson Road.

Matthew Dunford, prosecuting, described how the defendant, of King Street in Rock Ferry, was "making fun of" the complainant, adding: "Although it appeared to be back and forth banter, Mr Toal was aware that the defendant was becoming increasingly worked up. Things began to escalate."

The two men then began "scuffling" before being "quickly separated", with Povey being pushed towards the door. As he left the premises, the 33-year-old was heard to threaten that he was "going to get a knife".

When Mr Toal later exited the pub, he found his assailant shouting and running towards him with such a weapon. Povey then swung the blade at him, striking him in the face.

This was followed up by several more swinging attempts with the knife as onlookers "screamed for him to stop" and tried to intervene. The attacker then left the scene after throwing the instrument, later being recovered by the pub's manager and found to have a 17cm blade, onto the pavement.

Mr Toal was subsequently taken to Arrowe Park Hospital by his partner and was found to have suffered a three-inch laceration to his nose and lip. Povey was arrested at his home address shortly after the incident and gave no comment to detectives under interview.

He has a total of seven previous convictions for eight offences dating back to 2011, including receiving a community order for battery against his sister during 2023. Ken Heckle, defending, told the court: "They were playing pool together quite amicably with no bad blood at all.

"Sadly, we have heard reference to banter. It appears that it is the complainant that has taken it the wrong way. It is the complainant that first offers violence and headbutts and punches the defendant.

"When he was arrested, he had swelling to his nose and a cut lip. We have seen that the complainant was happy to carry on with the fight, despite being injured.

"Clearly, it does not justify for one second what he did. All that the defendant can say about that is, effectively, it was red mist. He lost it, whether it was drink or whatever.

"He does accept that he has a short temper and there are some issues. This offence is clearly making him look in the mirror about his conduct. The real sadness is that the defendant was doing reasonably well. He has always worked in various jobs, most recently for Biffa as a waste management operator.

"He had worked there for nearly 12 months on a zero hours contract. He was due to be offered a proper contract. It would have literally trebled his wage to a very good wage. That has all gone by the wayside because of his conduct.

"He is a family man. He has got a nine-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter. He does not have the worst record. He has never been in the crown court before and he, of course, has never previously been to prison.

"He is in prison in Worcestershire because of the prison problems. It is not the best start. This has been a particularly difficult scenario. It has been tough. He is doing his best to try to cope with that and use the time usefully.

"He is remorseful. He has not done anything like this previously. The defendant has admitted a very serious loss of control. It could have been more serious, injury wise. He is someone that has been resourceful and has worked."

Povey admitted wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article in a public place. Appearing via video link to HMP Hewell wearing a grey Montirex tracksuit top, he was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Sentencing, Recorder Mark Shepherd said: "These are serious offences which arose from a dispute which took place in drink with a man who you knew. Whatever issue had occurred inside the premises offers you precious little mitigation.

"I have seen reference to you being headbutted. If that is the case, what you should have done is left at the time and contacted the police.

"You took a very, very different approach to that. As you left the premises, you said you would be returning with a knife. You did exactly that. You could have just left and sobered up but you were hell bent on revenge, in my judgement.

"You subjected Michael Toal to a terrifying knife attack while others commendably put themselves in harm's way to stop you. His response and reaction was to stand and fight and defend himself rather than flee.

"He was entitled to do that. You were coming at him at high speed, armed and dangerous, at that point. It is very fortunate, in my judgement, that no one was very seriously injured or killed in the skirmish which took place. That is more down to good luck and fortune rather than judgement on your part. You were armed with a highly dangerous weapon, and this was a revenge attack."

Povey was also handed a 10-year restraining order and a serious violence reduction order, which will commence upon his release and run for two years thereafter. After being told he could leave the video link booth, he replied: "Alright, nice one."