Leslie Garrett was sacked by Showcase Cinema but 'didn't have grudge' before shooting

Leslie Garrett told a court he was "angry" after being sacked from his job at the Showcase Cinema but "didn't have a grudge" before he opened fire with an AK47.

The 49-year-old, of Ternhall Road in Fazakerley, raided a newsagents in his flip flops and shot into a protective screen on the evening of January 3 this year. He then went for a drink in the pub before continuing onwards to the Croxteth picture house, where he had worked as a security guard before losing his job three months earlier for "being under the influence of alcohol", and firing further shots outside.

Garrett previously pleaded guilty to eight offences - including possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, attempted robbery and possession of ammunition without a certificate. He will learn how long he is to spend behind bars after facing a trial of issue, a hearing in which a judge decides the factual basis on which a defendant is to be sentenced, at Liverpool Crown Court.

READ MORE: Live updates as Leslie Garrett sentenced over Showcase Cinema shooting

READ MORE: Security guard told Showcase Cinema gunman 'drop the pea shooter' but it was an AK47

David Birrell, prosecuting, described how Amandeep Singh had been working at Sangha's off-licence on Lower House Lane on the Wednesday night in question. The store was empty at around 7.30pm, with the shop assistant stood behind the counter and a protective plastic screen when Garrett entered wearing a long green coat with the hood up and with a pair of flip flops on his feet.

Mr Singh "noticed that the defendant's left arm was very straight" before he "suddenly" shouted: "Come on. Money".

The employee initially "thought it was a joke and smiled", but Garrett "produced and raised" an AK47 which he fired in his direction. Mr Singh fled into the stock room as the gunman left and drove to the Western Approaches pub in his Ford Focus, where he "ordered a drink and chatted to other customers at the bar".

He was then seen leaving the premises on CCTV, with two other men following to him to his car. There, he "appeared to show them the firearm" causing them to "back off".

Garrett then got back into his vehicle and continued onwards to the Showcase Cinema, where he had previously been employed as security but reportedly "lost his job following complaints about his behaviour towards other members of staff". Entering shortly after 8.45pm, again with his hood up, he approached cashier Danielle Mea and guard Philip Smith at the ticket desk.

He then pointed the weapon at the former, but both workers "believed it was a joke". Mr Smith even told him: "Drop the peashooter and don’t point it at her."

But Garrett responded "come see" and gestured for him to follow him into the car park. Cameras then captured the moment that he repeatedly fired the gun outside the cinema.

Upon realising that the gun was live, Mr Smith shouted to Ms Mea: "Get down. Get out."

Customers were "contained for their safety whilst police secured the area", with 12 shell casings being recovered from the scene. Garrett meanwhile left to the rear of the pictures and "fired multiple shots into the air" before driving away "at speed, erratically and through a red traffic light".

He continued to a Go Local store, where he "bought two mini bottles of vodka on credit", before remaining in the area of his mum's house on Ternhall Road for roughly an hour. At around 10pm, he moved on to his partner Jennifer Forshaw's address on Malpas Road where he again began firing gunshots.

Four shell casings were subsequently discovered in the front garden of her home. She later told officers that Garrett had fired the gun, which he kept on her property, into the air before leaving for his mother's address after the couple had earlier "drank alcohol and argued".

Shortly after 4.30am, a team of 16 firearms officers, two negotiators and a police dog handler attended Ternhall Road in "ballistically protected" Land Rovers. Garrett's 67-year-old mum Olive Brown opened the door and was escorted from the premises at gunpoint.

The defendant then presented at the entrance wearing a t-shirt and boxer shirts in an "agitated and aggressive" state. When officers pointed their guns towards him, he replied: "F*** off d***head."

Garrett was tasered and fell to the floor, at which he was handcuffed and arrested. He gave no comment to detectives under interview.

Merseyside Police subsequently recovered a Czech-manufactured "AK47-style rifle" dating back to 1964 from the Malpas Road address on January 5. The CZ-model VZ58 gun, which "bore military markings", was described as being "in fair condition given its age" and was successfully tested fired, although only one of the 323 cartridges recovered alongside it was compatible with the weapon.

Garrett gave evidence to the court from the witness box yesterday afternoon. He was asked by his counsel Paul Lewis to describe what were termed "four significant incidents in his life".

Wearing a khaki green coat over a black North Face t-shirt, he told the court that he had "witnessed his brother being run over" as a boy then saw his "father's best friend" being murdered. Garrett then had a son who died aged six weeks, while another of his brothers passed away in his early 40s.

The former joiner and roofer said that these events had "killed him". He was said to have presented at A&E in 2016 when "everything got on top of him" before attending his GP in 2021 with "low mood and PTSD symptoms".

Asked to describe his mental state at this time, Garrett said: "Bad. I’d grown up coping with these things.

"In 2021, it started getting to me a lot more. I didn’t know how to cope with anything, I just didn’t understand it."

When asked what had caused this "deterioration", he replied "all the events that happened in my life". Garrett then rang the police on December 5 last year and reported that he was "not feeling well" and that his "time here was done", of which he said: "It was just the way I was feeling at the time."

The dad stated that he had been employed at the Showcase Cinema through a contracting company "on and off for 15 years" before his employment came to an end in October last year. He said of this: "I was basically sacked from work for being under the influence."

When Mr Lewis asked "under the influence of what?", Garrett replied: "Alcohol."

The defence advocate continued: "How did you feel towards the institution of Showcase Cinema?"

Garrett said: "Not angry towards them, just frustrated. Frustrated at myself."

Mr Lewis said: "There were people that worked in the Showcase who presumably worked with you and knew you for a long time. Did you blame any of those individuals?"

Garrett responded: "Not an individual. Just the Showcase itself."

Mr Lewis: "Did you have any ill feeling towards any of the staff?"

Garrett: "No."

He also told the court that he had been living in his car after being "asked to leave" the relative's home where he had been staying previously as he was "taking the p***". When questioned on when he had acquired the gun and ammunition, he said he had been approached by two men around three months before the incident and was paid £300 to "mind the items in the bag".

Mr Lewis: "Were you told what was in the bag?"

Garrett: "No."

Mr Lewis: "Were you curious?"

Garrett: "Yes."

Mr Lewis: "£300 for minding a bag seems quite a lot of money. Did you suspect that what you were being asked to mind was not legal?"

Garrett: "Not at the time. No."

Mr Lewis: "Is there a point when you looked in the bag?"

Garrett: "A week after."

Mr Lewis: "And you saw what was in it?"

Garrett: "Yes. I think ammunition and the assault rifle."

Mr Lewis: "You didn’t take it to the police."

Garrett: "No, I was intrigued with it. Not intrigued, just curious."

He reported that he had kept the weapon in the boot of his car "until the day I did what I done". Mr Lewis asked: "How do you feel about it?"

Garrett replied: "Terrible. I don’t understand why I needed to do this."

Mr Lewis then referred to forensic psychiatrist Dr Inti Qurashi's suggestion of a "motivation of suicide by cop". Garrett said of this: "That’s how I was feeling, I’d had enough of everything."

He was asked: "Were you motivated to go into the newsagents for money?"

Garrett responded: "No. I don’t know what my motivations were."

Mr Lewis continued: "How did you feel about wanting to hurt someone on that evening?"

Garrett: "I don’t think my intentions would have been to hurt someone. Obviously, at that time, I didn't know what my intentions were."

Mr Lewis asked: "What about self harm. Do you think about that a lot?"

Garrett said: "Yes, and suicide. I don’t go through with the suicide because I love my family too much."

Under cross-examination, Mr Birrell put to him that he had given differing accounts of where he had stored the firearm. These also included under his girlfriend's mattress and down the side of a sofa in her garden.

The prosecution barrister suggested: "You're just lying."

Garrett said of this: "No, I’m not. You can stand there and say that lad."

Mr Birrell continued: "You’ve been interested in guns for years. Didn’t you used to go out hunting?"

Garrett: "There’s no law against that."

Mr Birrell: "You watched YouTube videos about guns."

Garrett: "That’s only when I was intrigued about that, curious about it."

Mr Birrell said that he had "starting drinking rum at 1pm" on the day of the shootings. He put to him: "At this time, you were drinking too much?"

Garrett replied: "Not that I'm aware of. I've never had alcohol problems.

"Don't be trying to insinuate that I've got an alcohol problem. You’re just trying to annoy me now, aren't you?"

Mr Birrell: "Alcohol makes people disinhibited, do you agree? Did the alcohol disinhibit you that night?"

Garrett: "I’m not sure. It didn’t help."

Mr Birrell: "You were effectively penniless. You didn’t have the money for two miniature bottles of vodka, you were in a desperate position."

Garrett: "No. Not desperate."

Mr Birrell: "Just before you went into that shop, you put your hood up."

Garrett: "Because it was cold. I can see what you’re saying, but it was cold."

Mr Birrell: "Were you trying to conceal your identity?"

Garrett: "No."

Mr Birrell: "You were trying to rob Sangha’s weren’t you?"

Garrett: "No."

Mr Birrell: "You’ve pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, haven’t you?"

Garrett: "I don’t know what my intentions were."

Mr Birrell continued: "You went to the Showcase Cinema, where you used to work until they sacked you. You had a grudge, didn't you?"

Garrett replied: "I was angry, but I didn’t have a grudge."

The trial of issue is scheduled to continue today, Friday. Judge David Aubrey KC will then pass sentence.

Don't miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the Echo Daily newsletter here