Pair attacked man as he used Wem cashpoint

Niall Rowley and Jake Patterson were sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court after admitting charges of theft and common assault.

Rowley, 34, of Orchard Way, Wem, was also sentenced for charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, criminal damage, and assault by beating, which he had pleaded guilty to relating to a separate incident.

Robert Edwards, prosecuting, said the incident involving Rowley and Patterson had taken place outside Wem’s Co-op at around 9.20pm on November 24 last year.

The victim had gone to the ATM when he was approached by both Patterson and Rowley who demanded he give them the money he was withdrawing from the machine.

One of the pair was said to have shouted “give my brother his money”.

The victim responded by saying he was using his mother’s card, at which point Mr Edwards described Patterson and Rowley becoming more aggressive.

The pair tried to take the money but the victim managed to put it in his pocket before he was kneed in the groin and leg by Paterson, who is 22 and from Oak Avenue in Wem.

Rowley was said to have “upper-cutted” the victim, who hit him again as he tried to run away.

As the victim tried to call the police both the aggressors fled the scene - but had managed to steal the bank card.

A victim impact statement said the man had been left with a facial scar from the assault, and was fearful of seeing both men in Wem.

Rowley also faced a second matter relating to an incidents where he assaulted his partner.

The court was told of one incident where he snapped a mobile telephone in half and threw it at the woman, splitting her lip.

During a later incident he bit her on her hip and punched her to the face, before smashing her head against a wall.

The court was told he then smashed a mirror.

Kevin Jones, mitigating for Patterson said the defendant had spent time on remand and had “seen first hand the consequences of further offending”.

He added that Patterson has been in no trouble since November 2025 and had pleaded guilty to the offences.

Danny Smith, mitigating for Rowley, said the offences had been a result of drug and alcohol abuse - and that he is now clean having spent time on remand in prison.

He accepted that the defendant found himself in a “very difficult situation” as a result of the crimes.

Mr Smith also read a letter to the court in which Rowley said: “I am so ashamed of himself for the harm I caused to my victims, which I know needs to be addressed and I am attempting to do so.”

Judge Deni Mathews sentenced Patterson to 14 months in prison, suspended for two years, with a requirement to complete 15 rehabilitation days with the probation service, and an alcohol treatment requirement.

Rowley was jailed for 14 months for the cashpoint attack, with a combined six months consecutive for the incidents involving his partner - making a total of 20 months in prison.

The court was told he will serve no more than 40 per cent of the sentence, minus 66 days spent on qualifying curfew.