Convicted killer who assaulted Lee Burns on stag do in Poulton walks free from court

A Blackpool man who nearly killed a groom-to-be in an assault on his stag do has walked free from court.

And it emerged that Scott Sutcliffe had been sentenced to four years behind bars in 2012 after he was the driver in a fatal crash that killed two young people.

Sutcliffe, 33, of Old House Lane, Blackpool, struck Lee Burns on the back of the head outside Boca Bar in Breck Road, Poulton in the early hours of Sunday, April 16 2023.

Mr Burns suffered a fractured skull and two bleeds on the brain after the assault. Sutcliffe pleaded guilty to Grievous Bodily Harm or wounding without intent (Section 20) when he appeared at Blackpool Magistrates' Court on December 12.

And last week, January 26, he was sentenced at Preston Crown Court to 20 months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

In addition, he was ordered to abide by an electronically monitored curfew, daily from 9pm to 6am, until April 30 2024, and pay Mr Burns £14,000 compensation. Mr Burns had been at the Grand National earlier on the day he was assaulted, celebrating his stag do, and decided to carry on the celebrations in Poulton on the way home.

But the night ended in trauma when he had to undergo a three-hour operation on his skull and brain at the Royal Preston Hospital, before being placed into an induced coma for more than a week.

In total, he spent more than a month fighting for his life in the Royal Preston Hospital and Blackpool Victoria Hospital, with his family not knowing whether he would ever walk or talk again.

But through considerable effort he was able to recover enough to marry his fiance Sara Smith in a delayed ceremony at the Imperial Hotel in Blackpool.