A man threatened to shoot police officers while chucking missiles on to a Merseyside street.
Michael McMahon wreaked havoc on St Helens’ Ashtons Green Drive earlier this year and caused thousands of pounds of damage. The 34 year old eventually jumped out of a window onto the road and was Tasered by police.
A judge at Liverpool Crown Court today said he accepted McMahon’s mental health issues played a role in the incident but said he had to be jailed after leaving members of the public terrified.
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Joanne Moore, prosecuting, said McMahon seemed to be intent on drawing police to his flat by causing chaos. A worker at one of the shop’s below McMahon’s flat was one of the first people to notice him at around the time the business was due to open on the morning of April 4, 2022.
She could hear him shouting and he then punched a window, shattering the glass. A ridge in the building prevented the woman from being hit by any glass but it left her terrified.
Ms Moore said: “She thought he was going to commit serious harm against her on the basis of what he said. He was saying ‘Did you see that girl? Did you see what I am going to do to them? I am going to kill them when they arrive?’”
Teams of officers then began to swarm the area because of McMahon’s threats. The first officers to respond were soon joined by armed police as well as a sniffer dog, as witnesses said they could hear McMahon threatening to either blow up or burn down the building.
He continued to throw various items out the window, including free weights, and police had to close the road to prevent members of the public from being hit by the objects. McMahon also threatened that he would shoot the officers if he had a gun and appeared to be surprised they weren’t taking stronger action against him. At one point he shouted: “Oh my god, how long does it take to get shot in England?”.
Unbeknownst to officers at this stage, he was also trashing the inside of the flat. CCTV showed he had smashed up almost everything inside the property, causing in excess of £6,000 of damage. He then jumped out a window on to the street, where an armed police officer Tasered him.
McMahon was arrested and pleaded guilty to affray and criminal damage last month. Ms Moore said he later told probation officers he had stopped taking medication intended to help him deal with his mental health issues. The court heard he had a number of previous convictions, including for criminal damage.
John Wyn Williams, defending, told the court McMahon suffered with mental health problems but had struggled to get a full diagnosis and, therefore, proper support. He appealed to the judge, Robert Trevor Jones, to suspend McMahon’s sentence and instead impose a suspended sentence that would allow him to engage more fully with psychologists to address his mental health issues.
Judge Trevor-Jones said the seriousness of McMahon’s offences, combined with the fact that he had done a similar thing before, meant he had to go to jail. He said he was sure McMahon’s poor mental health played a role in the incident but said McMahon himself bore some responsibility for that.
Judge Trevor-Jones said: “There is no doubt, as I have already stated, that you were in a heavily disturbed state but it could be said that in large part that was because you did not keep taking your medication.”
McMahon, of no fixed abode, was jailed for 16 months.
