Judge praises actions of sales assistant who raised the alarm fearing what Giuseppe Calvert, 22, might do
A drunken man who bought fuel in a container from a petrol station and left threatening to kill someone, has been warned he faces jail.
Mold Crown Court heard how at 3.30am on September 10 Giuseppe Calvert bought £2.20 worth of petrol from Quay Services in Connah’s Quay and as he left was mumbling the name of a man he said he was going to kill.
The 22-year-old then returned to the garage for some cigarette papers and sales assistant Dani Smallman said to him: “Please don’t do anything stupid.”
She alerted police as he walked away fearing he might harm the man he had named.
Officers found Calvert walking in the middle of the road. He was clearly intoxicated, was talking about bullies and becoming increasingly angry.
“I might as well do it to myself"
At one stage he got a lighter out of his pocket and held the fuel container up, taking the lid off, and said “I might as well do it to myself.”
He claimed the petrol was to be used in self-defence.
Officers managed to calm him down, the lid was put on and the container placed on the ground.
Police traced the man he had named and it turned out they were friends and there were no issues between them.
Calvert, of Highmere Drive in Connah’s Quay, was originally charged with possessing a bottle of petrol as an offensive weapon and making a threat to kill.
But those charges were dropped when he admitted an alternative charge of affray.
Judge Niclas Parry has now publicly commended the sales assistant’s actions saying “Due to her picking up that phone, the police came and no harm was done.”
He adjourned the case for more information from the probation service but warned Calvert to expect prison.
'Worrying case'
Judge Parry described it as a worrying case involving a man with a previous conviction for arson and who had previously been warned for arson.
He told Calvert: “This is a serious matter and the starting point is a fairly significant sentence of custody. But you have issues, you have vulnerabilities, and I am not satisfied that every alternative has been explored.”
Arrested and interviewed, the defendant said he had been drinking and recalled little of what had happened.
He had a call from a friend who said he had run out of fuel and tried to help by purchasing some petrol.
Andrew Green, defending, said he was not instructed to ask for a psychiatric report but he had been a little surprised there was no alternative to custody put forward in the pre-sentence report.
Calvert has been further remanded in custody.
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/drunk-man-carrying-petrol-made-12192877
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