County Arms Truro staff hid mother and daughter in cellar

Gareth Healey, 33, from Bodmin Road, Truro, appeared at Truro Crown Court for sentence today having pleaded guilty to affray and possession of two bladed articles earlier in the year.

Gareth Healy was sentenced to 16 months in prison (Image: Devon and Cornwall Police)

Prosecutor Nick Lewin told the court that despite the aggression and violence of Healey, the victim had not wanted the case to go-ahead but Healey had pleaded guilty to all charges.

Outlining what happened he said at around 3.30pm on September 27 last year the mother received a phone call from a friend saying she had seen Healey drinking in Wetherspoons in Truro.

He said she was surprised because she thought he was working and she knew what he was like when he was drinking. She messaged him and he replied “Don’t be silly, I’ll be home soon”.

He arrived back at 6.30pm, said Mr Lewin, and was initially happy but his mood changed very quickly and his eyes were described as “huge”.

“He was walking back and forth in an erratic way and was consistently abusive and accused her of cheating on him calling her a whore and slut several times,” said Mr Lewin.

“She was at this time in the kitchen trying to do the dishes. Healey kept going on about a friend of hers from St Austell and accused her of having an affair with him whilst Healey was in prison.”

Mr Lewin said Healey’s mood moved from "aggressive and unpleasant" to "upset and crying".

"At one point he had his head in his hands saying 'If I can’t have you, nobody can, I will kill you',” said Mr Lewin.

When the mother’s daughter came home at around 8pm, Healey went into the kitchen and got two knives from the kitchen drawer. One was a big carving knife and the other a similar smaller one.

He said Healey was determined to go to this man’s address in St Austell and take her with him and stab him in the neck front of her, said Mr Lewin.

"He made her get dressed and told her to go the toilet ‘If you don’t go now, you won’t be going again’," he said.

Whilst she was on the toilet, Healey burst in and grabbed her by the hair pulled her off the toilet forcefully and forced her downstairs, said Mr Lewin.

Her daughter could see her mother crying and shaking and asked what was going on and Healey said they were going to St Austell.

On the way they stopped at a shop and the daughter messaged her mother’s sister saying they needed help.

Whilst Healy was causing a disturbance in the middle of town, the daughter managed to escape, said Mr Lewin.

“She ran into the County Arms and made a call to the police,” he said. “In fact [the mother] was able to extract herself from Mr Healey at that stage and both she and her daughter were hidden by staff in the cellar of the pub to await the arrival of the police.”

The police arrived and Healey handed them the knives and he was arrested.

The court heard that Healey had been in trouble with the courts “repeatedly” for over the past two decades with 32 relevant appearances.

READ NEXT:

Yellow line painting on Falmouth sea front hampered by parked cars, say workers

He had 14 previous convictions for public order offences, 15 previous convictions for assault cases, five for criminal damage, three for having an offensive weapon or bladed article and seven other drunkenness and violence offences.

The most recent was on December 31, 2021 when he was sentenced to six months in prison by Cornwall magistrates.

Jason Beal defending, said Healey had used his time in custody as wisely as he could and had been tackling his problems with alcohol to try and understand why he did it.

“He is ashamed of his actions that night," said Mr Beal.

Recorder Simon Levene sentenced Healey to 16 months in prison.