A drunk man smashed up betting shops before threatening to shoot police officers across the road from Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
Richard Higginson was tasered by police after a stand off outside Eaton Road police station, close to the hospital, earlier this year. He repeatedly told officers he might shoot someone, despite having no gun, shortly after smashing TV screens and betting machines in Betfred and William Hill shops nearby.
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday that Higginson, of Widnes, caused more than £20,000 of damage during his rampage across Knotty Ash. Having struggled with gambling in the past, he had managed to control his addiction but then relapsed and lost more than a thousand pounds at a bookmakers.
