He was handed his takeaway but jailed for what he did next

A petty criminal who was given countless second chances by the court was finally jailed after losing his temper in a kebab shop.

The judge threw the book at Stephen McGinty, of Lingholme Road, St Helens, after he repeatedly squandered his second chances by breaching suspended sentences for numerous previous crimes. The 48-year-old, who has 25 convictions for 44 past offences, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, April 16, where he pleaded guilty to common assault, assaulting an emergency worker, and a public order offence for abusive behaviour.

This related to an incident which occurred at 12.30am on October 26 last year, when McGinty went into the Captain Cook takeaway on Baldwin Street, St Helens, and ordered some food. When staff member Aaliyah Shirazi handed him his order, he demanded she thank him for his custom, and was enraged when she refused.

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CCTV footage played to the court showed McGinty sweeping his arm across the takeaway counter, knocking his food to the floor, while shouting "say f***ing thank you". Several male staff members then rushed out and bundled him out of the shop.

Further video footage, taken from police bodycam as McGinty was arrested outside, showed McGinty goading officers as he was arrested, saying "Go on, punch you, you f***ing idiot". He then spat at one of the officers, and was pushed to the ground.

Prosecutor Ian Criddle said: "He was put in a police car and the behaviour continued. He was abusive, he made homophobic remarks to the police officers, referring to them as f*****s."

He added: "McGinty has 25 convictions for 44 offences since 1998. There are numerous convictions for drunkenness and violence. But perhaps the matters that the court would have most concern about are the most recent matters. The defendant was convicted in 2021 for assaulting emergency workers.

"In March 2022 the defendant received 20 months, suspended for 18 months, for assault causing actual bodily harm. These are offences committed by the defendant against his parents, who were in their 70s and 80s at the time. That suspended sentence order was extended, and it's that suspended sentence the defendant is in breach of by committing these offences

"Also, within that (suspended sentence) period the defendant was sent to prison for failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis, and committing an offence while under a suspended sentence order.

"Most recently there's an offence of battery from June 2023. He appears to have offended while subject to a community order imposed for an offence of battery. The circumstances are he had a fallout with his roommate and punched them on one or two occasions."

Oliver King, defending, said: "McGinty is something of a Jekyll and Hyde. His problem is alcohol. When he drinks he tends to let his emotions get the better of him; he's argumentative and he overreacts. It seems all this came about because he received Ms Shirazi had been impolite to him by not thanking him for his custom. It couldn't be more of a contrast to how he presents when sober. He's a polite, reserved, self-effacing man who does everything that's required of him."

He said McGinty had suffered a head injury after being knocked to the ground by police during his arrest and had to be taken to hospital, and that Merseyside Police had referred itself to the IOPC over the incident. He added: "In interview he was ashamed and remorseful because by then he had sobered up and he was truly disgusted with himself. He does have another side to his character, a caring side. He does care for his parents, who are in their 70s and 80s. When he's sober, he's a model son."

Sentencing, Judge Brian Cummings KC said: "The defence urges upon me the fact that when you are not in drunk, you're a perfectly decent person. But when you are in drink, you are a liability, and a violent one. The courts have tried to assist you. They have given you every chance. It's very rare, indeed it might even be unprecedented, to see the series of repeat offences with suspended sentenced being made, and I suspect all of that has been done in respect of the kind of mitigation that has been presented to me today.

"None of these offences is the most serious of its kind. But you keep committing offences and doing so while subject to court orders, and in the end, the court has to take a stand, otherwise the public would rightly lose confidence in the courts."

He activated McGinty's suspended sentence, jailing him for six months, with an additional two months for the offences committed on October 26. He also made a restraining order banning him from the Captain Cook takeaway.

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