A man who thought he could waltz past airport security with 14,000 cigarettes stuffed in his luggage has been jailed. Michael Legros has just returned from a holiday in Bali with his partner Heidi Mullis and their young children when he was pulled up by border force officers at Manchester Airport in May 2020.
While his suitcases with seearched, Legros, 32, began aggressively pacing up and down with his fists clenched. And when the thousands of cigarettes were found, he responded by calling the officers "scruffy c****" before adding "you only earn £20,000 a year - just keep the cigarettes", reports the Liverpool Echo.
Zahra Baqri, prosecuting, said Legros told one of the officers, who was Asian, that he looked like a "Rochdale paedo". The officer was heard to be physically shaken by the racial abuse.
Legros, whose address was given as Woodbridge Avenue, Halewood, Merseyside, was found guilty of the racially aggravated offence by a jury in Manchester on November 11. His sentencing was delayed due to a number of other offences that Ms Baqri listed in court.
Legros was involved in a commotion on Lark Lane, Aigburth, in July 2020 where he 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", the court also heard how Legros was involved in an incident at the Wellington Pub, Hale, on May 15 last year. Ms Baqri said he was caught on CCTV brandishing a blade and threatening members of the public. Legros was found guilty by a Liverpool Crown Court jury last week of affray and threatening with a bladed article.
Ms Baqri told the court Legros had 30 offences dating back to 2007. Legros has previously served time in prison for a number of offences including production of cannabis and handling stolen goods.
Addressing the incident at Manchester Airport, Charles Lander, defending, told the court "tensions were frayed" and the defendant overreacted "out of frustration" after a 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.
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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. Part of a letter from Legros' dad was read to the court where he acknowledged his son had put his family "through the mill", and that he couldn't face coming to court to see his son sentenced.
Judge Cummings told Legro that due to the totality of crime only an immediate custodial sentence would be suitable. He took into account Legros' relevant previous offences and repeated criminality while on bail.
He told Legros he had also taken into account his young family, but they would lose their dad because of his actions. Judge Cummings notably branded the Manchester Airport incident as a "disgraceful offence".
He was sentenced to three years in prison. Legros will serve half the sentence before being allowed out on licence.
