AN ELDERLY Leigh farmer who thought he was going to die as a thug beat him unconscious has welcomed news that his attacker has received a life prison sentence.

Harry Tomlinson, who lives at Bowland Field Farm, said he was pleased that 43-year-old Gary Monks had been handed the toughest punishment possible.

Mr Tomlinson spent two weeks in hospital and was left with a fractured skull and brain damage after the sickening assault in August last year.

Speaking from his farm on the East Lancs Road, where he sells eggs and flowers, he said he was relieved Monks had been punished. "I'm happy with the life sentence, it's the best we could have hoped for. I think he's just a loony and should be put in a loony bin where he belongs."

Mr Tomlinson, who still suffers memory loss and has deep scars on his forehead, said the attack was a horrendous experience.

He added: "I thought I was going to die. He said he was going to shoot me and I thought they were my last seconds.

"I grabbed him and we had a set-to, but then he knocked me out with the gun and smashed my head in.

"All the time he was screaming and shouting. I've never heard anything like it."

At Bolton Crown Court, Mr Tomlinson was commended by Judge John Roberts who praised his "sheer guts and courage".

Monks, who is originally from Tyldesley, denied the violent robbery against the farmer and Lady Muriel Oxford, the widow of the former Chief Constable of Merseyside, Sir Kenneth Oxford. He slapped the 72-year-old woman and ripped rings from her fingers after forcing his way into her Rainford home.

Surrounded by four dock officers, Monks remained expressionless as Judge Roberts sentenced him to life and said that he should serve a specified period of six years and 232 days before he becomes eligible for parole.

He has already been in jail for a year which is the equivalent of a two year

sentence and the only time to be taken into consideration for his life sentence is the time he has served on remand for his trial.

The jury took three hours and 45 minutes to find Monks, a former Tyldesley Boys' School pupil, guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent, aggravated burglary, and robbery of Lady Oxford.

Due to a previous offence in 1983 where Monks pointed a loaded gun at police officers after he had been threatened with arrest, his second conviction of such a serious offence meant the judge had no option but to jail him for life.

Judge Roberts said the appalling attack on Harry Tomlinson would have justified a 15-year sentence in itself, but for the life sentence provisions.

He also jailed Monks for 12 years for aggravated burglary at Harry Tomlinson's farm and 12 years for the Lady Oxford robbery, all concurrent. He also sentenced Monks concurrently for a number of other offences.

On the judge's directions the jury had been discharged from returning a verdict on Monks' possessing an imitation firearm used in the burglary against Mr Tomlinson.

Sentencing Monks Judge Roberts said: " These were dreadful crimes committed in their own homes against vulnerable and elderly people."

Monks had pleaded not guilty to the crimes and blamed the attacks on his former friend Robert Augusta. But forensic evidence and an identity parade linked Monks to both robberies.

Det Const Phil Ratcliffe, of Leigh CID, said the sentence was a satisfying conclusion to hard work carried out by Greater Manchester and Merseyside police.

He added: "This was an horrendous attack on Harry. Good team effort has led to a very dangerous man being put behind bars."

Prosecutor Alaric Bassano outlined Monks' long and violent police record. He had been jailed for pointing the gun at police officers while resisting arrest in 1983.

And in 1984 he had been convicted of aggravated burglary at a Westhoughton

house where he had carried a double barrelled shotgun, worn a mask and tied

up and threatened the occupants unless they did what they were told.

When Monks becomes eligible for parole the board will have to be satisfied that he does not represent a danger to the public before they consider his release.

Upon his eventual release as a 'lifer' Monks will be subject to constant supervision for the rest of his natural life. If he commits any other imprisonable offence he can be called back to jail to serve the rest of his life sentence.