The thug violently snatched his victim’s wallet and left him covered in blood at a train station
Leon Burgess(Image: Merseyside Police)
A thug drank and played pool with a stranger in a pub before violently snatching his wallet and leaving him covered in blood. Leon Burgess accompanied the man to a train station following their drinking session before attacking him on a railway bridge.
Having fled to a nearby Tesco store, which he had previously been banned from due to earlier thefts and assaults on staff, he then used the victim’s bank card to buy more booze. But he now says that he hopes to become an “honourable citizen”.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that John McKeon was “tipsy” after consuming six pints of lager in a pub in the Earlestown area of St Helens on the evening of October 21 last year. He then began “chatting with” Burgess, with the two men thereafter drinking and playing pool together.
Zahra Baqri, prosecuting, described how Mr McKeon subsequently left on foot in order to catch a train from Earlestown Station. He was accompanied there by the 23-year-old defendant, of no fixed address, with a member of staff having recalled seeing them “chatting away” and “things seeming to be amiable”.
However, as they walked over a bridge in the direction of the other platform, Burgess was said to have attacked Mr McKeon “with force”, although it could not be established whether the complainant was kicked or punched due to CCTV cameras having an obscured view. He lost a false tooth during the incident, with the station employee recalling him being “very shaken” with “blood running down the side his face”.
Burgess meanwhile took his wallet and ran away to the Tesco supermarket on Earle Street, where he purchased £24 of alcohol. But he was ultimately identified due to staff at the store recognising him from “previous shoplifting” and assaults on workers, which had led to him being banned from the premises.
His criminal record shows six prior entries for 19 offences, including receiving a six-month imprisonment suspended for a year in June 2024 for matters of battery, possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, assaulting an emergency services worker, theft and a public order offence. He was then given 26 weeks for assault and a public order offence in December of last year before receiving three years and nine months in February 2025 for wounding and burglary and a further 12 months in March for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Bernice Campbell, defending, told the court: “This is, of course, a mean offence. A rush of blood happened for the defendant. He is rather immature. Perhaps my own view of him is that there may be some learning difficulties.
“He is a young man who was living on the streets at the time. He was brought up by his nan and mother. His mother sadly passed away from a drug overdose when he was 20. At age two, his father passed away. He has had quite an isolated life. He has had his own difficulties.
“In prison, he is doing courses to help his mental health. He is doing a joinery course. He hopes, on release, to move away from the area. He tells me that his brother is a chef in Coventry. Maybe he could go there.
“He is a little bit lost. He wants to change for the better. He wants to be an honourable citizen, he tells me. Clearly, he has not been so far. Of total regret is that he hurt this man. On reflection, he is very sorry.”
Burgess admitted robbery and fraud. Appearing via video link to HMP Berwyn wearing a grey t-shirt and glasses on Wednesday, he was jailed for 32 months, to be served concurrently with his current prison term.
Sentencing, Recorder Patrick Cowan said: “Without any disrespect to you, your physical appearance looks a little older, but you are 23 years of age. You are to be sentenced for a robbery committed on the 21st of October last year. There has been a delay, which is regrettable.
“You seemed to be with the victim earlier in the evening, drinking together in the pub. You had formed an acquaintance that evening. It sounds like Mr McKeon had a lot to drink.
“You went together to Earlestown Station. On the bridge over the railway line, you used force on him. You took his wallet from him. He was seen to be bleeding from his head. I infer that that was a result of the force you used upon him. You were detected by CCTV enquiries at the Tesco where you used the card.
“In terms of aggravating features, there are your earlier convictions. You committed this offence in breach of a suspended sentence. It is notable, in terms of your record, that there has perhaps been more punishment than attempts at rehabilitation, but that suspended sentence was an attempt at rehabilitation.
“Your drinking problem seems to be associated with some of your offending. You have apparently had a difficult childhood, and you were homeless at the time of committing this offence.
“People are entitled to go out and about and consume alcohol in places such as public houses without being taken advantage of in this way. There is a need to deter street robberies of this nature.
“I have heard what has been said about your desire to turn your life around. You can use this time in prison wisely, if you choose to do so, to try and get your life back on track. I hope you take advantage of what is offered to you and achieve that objective.”