A landscape gardener who hit a pubgoer over the head with an axe has been found guilty of attempted murder.

David Perry, of St Margaret's Place, Stradishall, was warned he faces a lengthy prison sentence following the attack at the Bell Hotel in Clare in March 2022.

The 40-year-old had denied attempted murder but admitted possession of an offensive weapon and wounding the victim with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

The jury at Ipswich Crown Court retired to consider its verdict on Friday, January 13, and on Tuesday, January 17, they found him guilty of the attempted murder charge by a 10-2 majority verdict after more than 12 hours of deliberations.

Judge Martyn Levett adjourned sentence until March 6 for a pre-sentence report to allow the probation service to consider the issue of dangerousness.

He remanded Perry in custody and warned him he is facing a “lengthy” prison sentence.

The court heard that on March 19 last year Perry had been drinking alone at the Bell hotel in Clare before the victim came in with two friends.

Perry had tried to start a fight with the group and was physically ejected from the premises.

He returned a few minutes later with an axe from the back of his van and attacked the victim with it

The man, in his 30s, was taken to hospital with head injuries and underwent surgery.

The court heard that he had made a good recovery but still had headaches and medical experts said his injuries could have been life-threatening or left him permanently disabled.

Following the incident Perry had allegedly told a supermarket cashier that he had made "the worst decision" of his life.

During his evidence Perry apologised to the victim and his family.

He claimed that after being forced out of the pub he realised he had left his phone behind and had returned with the axe as a “deterrent” in case of further trouble.

Perry told the jury he “wasn’t thinking” when he struck the man with the axe and hadn’t wanted to kill him.

He said that after the attack he had just wanted to get out of the pub and when he saw the man wasn’t moving he thought he’d killed him.

Perry denied a suggestion from prosecution counsel Carolyn Gardiner that he had left the victim for dead and had walked out of the pub thinking ‘“job done”.

He also denied that he had been in a “blind rage and had been unable to control his fury” when he attacked the man.

Perry described himself as an "absolute disgrace" and accepted that his behaviour had been affected by alcohol on the night in question.