A thug called a border cop a "Rochdale paedo" after he was nabbed with 14,000 cigarettes in his luggage.
Michael Legros, 32, was in Manchester Airport, coming back from a holiday in Bali with his partner Heidi Mullis and their young children on May 24 2020 when he was stopped by border force officers.
Legros then began aggressively pacing up and down with his fists clenched as his suitcases were being searched, reports Liverpool Echo. The suitcase was opened and 14,000 cigarettes were discovered.
Legros called the officers "scruffy c****", before he added: "You only earn £20,000 a year - just keep the cigarettes," Liverpool Crown Court.
Zahra Baqri, prosecuting, said Legros told an Asian officer that he looked like a "Rochdale paedo". The unnamed officer was said to be physically shaken by the racial abuse.
The court heard the officer had been racially abused before in the job, but this "really shook him". Legros, was found guilty of the racially aggravated offence by a jury in Manchester on November 11.
His sentencing was delayed until Friday May 26, due to a number of other offences that were listed in court. Legros was involved in a disturbance in Aigburth, on July 31 2020 and threw a plastic bottle at someone during a fight that saw a woman assaulted.
The dad pleaded guilty under Section 4 of the Public Order Act, referred to as threatening behaviour or provoking violence, in December last year.
But in a case described by Honour Judge Brian Cummings as "far more serious", Legros was involved in an incident at a pub in Hale on May 15 last year where he was caught on CCTV brandishing a blade and threatening members of the public.
A jury was shown two videos of Legros, one at 10.30pm and another around two-and-a-half hours later, which showed Legros' partner trying to calm him in the pub garden before violence ensued. Legros was found guilty by a Liverpool Crown Court jury last week of affray and threatening with a bladed article.
The court heard how Legros had 30 offences dating back to 2007, including serving time for a number of offences such as production of cannabis and handling stolen goods. When Legros committed the two crimes in 2020 he was already on bail for a driving offence which he was later jailed for in November of that year.
He was given a 16-month custodial sentence which Judge Cummings noted would have expired "either shortly before or after the incident at the Wellington Pub". In reference to the incident at Manchester Airport, Charles Lander, defending, said "tensions were frayed" and the defendant overreacted "out of frustration" after a long 25-hour flight.
Mr Lander said his client regretted calling the officer a paedophile but it was "one phrase alone" - and although there was a lot of bad language there was no violence.
Mr Lander also told the court how Legros didn't engage in serious violence during the Lark Lane incident - and the violence at the Wellington Pub escalated due to a man, known in court as Padded Jacket Man, taking off his jacket and smashing a bottle.
Mr Lander said Legros had been working with his dad to improve his behaviour in recent months.
An extract from a letter Legros' dad had written was read to the court and in it he acknowledged his son had put his family "through the mill", and he went on to say that he couldn't face coming to court to see his son sentenced.
The court heard Legros had recently registered for an accountancy course, but he felt like the "sword of Damocles" had been hanging over him while the two different trials were ongoing.
Mr Lander also said Legros' partner was a nurse, and it would be left to her to pay for childcare to look after their children while she was working. He continued that Legros was now on medication for ADHD - something he was waiting to be tested for when he committed the crimes.
Judge Cummings told Legros, who was supported by his partner who wore NHS scrubs, that due to the totality of crime he could only be handed an immediate custodial sentence. Cummings said that he had taken into account Legros' relevant previous offences and repeated criminality while on bail.
Legros wore a white shirt and floral tie, was also told by the judge that he had also taken into account his young family, but they would lose their dad because of his actions. Judge Cummings said the incident at the airport in Manchester had been a "disgraceful offence".
Legros was sentenced to three years in prison and will serve half the sentence before being allowed out on licence.
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