Gary Maddison, 65, terrified customers and staff in the York branch of Caffe Nero in January last year after he pulled out a toy gun – he was jailed for 12 months on Wednesday
A pensioner has been jailed after causing chaos at a city centre Caffe Nero with a toy gun.
York Crown Court heard that Gary Maddison, 65, told a terrified staff member at the York branch: “I’m going to kill you.” An assistant manager “thought she was going to die” after he pointed the small pistol at her and pulled the trigger.
Maddison entered Caffe Nero at 12.15pm on January 20 last year. He initially sat down next to a woman before putting his feet on the table. He then started arguing with staff and became “obnoxious”. The assistant manager eventually asked him to leave.
Another staff member picked up Maddison’s bag and placed it on the doorstep. He noticed the imitation firearm and how it felt very light, but was concerned that it “might propel something like a bullet”.
He escorted Maddison out of the shop, but the pensioner refused to leave and was said to have shouted: “I’m going to kill you.” When confronted by the staff member, the court heard Maddison told him: “This is going to be your last breath.”
The assistant manager and the staff member went outside to ask Maddison to leave, which is when he pulled out the imitation firearm. As Maddison pulled the trigger, the manager “thought she was going to die” before realising it wasn’t a real gun. Maddison was said to have told her before fleeing: “I’m going to kill you on Monday.” He was detained by police a short while later.
Prosecutor Rob Galley said Maddison had earlier walked up to an off-duty police officer and told him there was “a gunman in York”, before adding: “It’s me!” Maddison then took out a toy gun from his bag and told the officer he had bought it from a joke shop. The off-duty officer told him not to brandish it in front of members of the public as “they may think it was real”.
Maddison was charged with carrying an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and two counts of making a threat to kill. He admitted possessing the firearm with intent but denied making threats to kill. The charges of threats to kill were left to file and Maddison was jailed for 12 months on Wednesday.
In a victim statement read out to the court, the assistant manager said she had since moved to another shop to avoid seeing Maddison again. She said her anxiety had “got a lot worse” and she had even changed her bus route into the city centre.
Maddison had 80 previous convictions for 150 offences including damaging property, theft and public disorder, the court heard. One of his previous convictions was for possessing an imitation firearm 20 years ago, when it was “tucked in his waistband”. In 2015, he was given a mental health disposal after being convicted of arson.
Defence barrister Nicholas Hammond said Maddison hadn’t been taking his medication for mental health issues at the time of the “frightening” incident. Judge Simon Hickey told Maddison his gun-wielding antics had terrified staff and customers who may not have realised initially that the weapon was fake.