Violent drunk fatally stabbed 'beloved' dog in the neck and strangled landlady - months after breaking man's leg in Shrewsbury pub rampage
A violent drunk has been jailed after breaking a man’s leg in a pub rampage, strangling his landlady and committing a “grotesque” attack on a defenceless dog which had to be put down.
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Richard Forbes, aged 49, was locked up for seven and a half years and banned from owning animals for 30 years after his “horrific” crimes were laid bare at Shrewsbury Crown Court.
Shocking CCTV footage was shown of Forbes violently attacking three people after he went out “looking for a fight” in the Tumbledown Hotel, opposite Shrewsbury railway station in Castle Foregate.
And his former landlady at the home he shared with her in Meole Brace bravely took to the witness stand to tell the court how she thought Forbes would kill her.
She revealed the harrowing ordeal her Pomeranian dog Comet suffered at his hands, and said she had “sobbed and sobbed and sobbed” after telling her treasured pet “I love you, little girl,” before she was put to sleep.
Firstly the court was told of the pub attack, which took place at around 8.10pm on July 28, 2023.
CCTV footage appeared to show Forbes pushing a woman who was sitting at the bar, before a man much smaller than him bravely stepped in to usher him away.
Forbes then hit that man in the face and knocked him to the ground, before flooring another man who appeared to be trying to calm the situation.
He left the pub and a barmaid phoned the police, but Forbes came back and saw what she was doing. He emptied a bottle of Corona beer and threw it at her, before storming out again.
Staff and customers tried to help the two men up and sit them down, but one of the men had suffered a broken leg and could not get up on his own.
When the other man who Forbes attacked came to, he found the back of his head was bleeding.
Forbes was later arrested on the same night outside Albert’s Shed in Barker Street, where door staff were restraining him on the floor after he had just attacked a customer. No charges were brought for that incident.
When interviewed he told officers he did not know what happened, saying he was drunk at the time.
'I worried I would never walk on that leg again'
The man whose leg was broken by Forbes ended up needing surgery and metalwork to fix the fracture.
In a victim impact statement, he said he was unable to leave home for three months after the attack due to his injuries.
“I became very worried I would never walk on that leg again,” he said. “If I work a shift it starts aching and causing me pain.”
