The nine hours when cinema AK47 gunman brought 'terror, fear and mayhem'

On a typically damp and dreary Wednesday evening in January, families were seeking solace from the post-Christmas blues at a Merseyside Showcase Cinema, where Timothee Chalamet's Wonka was being screened.

In other screens within the Croxteth picture house, couples and groups of friends were enjoying popcorn and a Tango Ice Blast while watching a biopic of Elvis Presley's ex-wife Priscilla. The acclaimed film One Life, depicting Sir Nicholas Winton's efforts to rescue Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, was also among the new releases.

The lobby was largely empty when Leslie Garrett walked in wearing flip flops and a long green overcoat with the hood up, carrying an AK47. Ironically, it was like a scene out of a movie. Garrett was on a rampage that had already seen him fire the assault rifle in a newsagents, then head to the pub for a pint, showing off the weapon to fellow drinkers.

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Garrett, a dad who had previously worked as a security guard at the Showcase for many years, had lost his job three months earlier as his drinking problem got on top of him. Now, he was firing gunshots into the air outside, causing his terrified former colleagues to take cover, reports the Liverpool Echo.

Garrett was a man who had previously had the odd brush with the law, but his criminal record only showed entries for relatively minor offences. Similarly, he was barely known to mental health services.

However, by his own account, he had been keeping an array of dark emotions locked deep inside himself for many years. And January 3, 2024, was the night when it all came to a head.

Born in June 1974, Garrett was one of seven siblings. However, his childhood in the early to mid-1980s was littered with tragic and traumatic incidents.

At first, he endured the shock of seeing one of his brothers hit by a car. A few years onward, the horror escalated as a family friend was murdered before his eyes while he was having his tea in the kitchen.

As he transitioned into adulthood, his world was rocked by the death of his baby son who was merely six weeks old. His work life comprised stints as a joiner and roofer; he predominantly worked in security, spending approximately 15 years "on and off" with Showcase cinema via a contractor.

A turning point in his mid-40s, was described by one forensic psychiatrist as the "straw that broke the camel's back". This was when he lost another brother to diabetes.

The impact on Garrett's emotional state was obvious in 2016 when "everything got on top of him" and, overcome by life's pressures, he presented himself at A&E communicating suicidal thoughts and feeling to be "on autopilot".

Five years on, in May 2021, he visited his GP with symptoms of "low mood and PTSD symptoms". He was prescribed antidepressants and offered therapy, but only attended one session and never took the medication.

Tragically, just a month before wreaking havoc in the city, on December 5, 2023, Garrett called 999 and ominously declared "my time here is done". Regrettably, no action was taken.

In the previous autumn, Garrett found himself without a home and living out of his car after being evicted by a relative due to his self-described "awful" behaviour. By October, he had lost his job at Showcase Cinema due to "complaints about his behaviour towards other members of staff", although he contended it was because he was under the influence of alcohol.

It was during this period that he claimed two men approached him, offering £300 to look after a bag without revealing its contents. Driven by curiosity, he looked inside a week later and found a Czech-made military "AK47-style rifle" from 1964 and over 300 cartridges.

Garrett had always been fascinated by firearms, having enjoyed hunting in his youth and frequently watching firearm-related videos on YouTube.

On January 3, the stage was set for a shocking incident. Garrett had an argument with his partner and started drinking rum around 1pm, downing about a bottle-and-a-half over the next 24 hours before he entered Sangha's off-licence on Lower House Lane in Norris Green.

Shop assistant Amandeep Singh was working solo that evening, manning the till in the deserted shop at approximately 7.30pm. The CCTV footage capturing the ensuing events would soon become notorious.

Even months later, the video is still jaw-dropping. Garrett, hooded by his green coat and wearing flip flops, walked in and demanded "come on, money", brandished a gun, and fired a single shot into a plastic screen at the counter.

However, he quickly left without taking anything. Mr Singh, who had initially smiled during the ordeal, mistaking it for a prank, dashed into the stock room, terrified.

Garrett then drove to the Western Approaches pub, a place he used to frequent. After ordering a drink, he struck up a conversation with fellow patrons at the bar.

The subject of their chat remains unknown, but it prompted two customers to follow him to his car's boot, only to hastily retreat when they saw its contents.

Garrett displayed the firearm before returning to his vehicle and driving off, with Showcase Cinema being his next destination. Getting there just after 8.45pm, he encountered Danielle Mea behind the ticket counter and security officer Philip Smith.

Like Mr Singh, they also initially thought the incident was a joke. The security guard thinking that Garrett was wielding a replica gun, admonished him: "Drop the peashooter and don't point it at her."

Garrett, unrecognisable due to his hood, responded "come see" and signalled for him to trail in the direction of the car park. At the main entrance, he trained the gun on Mr Smith then moved it to his left before discharging it.

Upon understanding the severity of the ordeal, the worker told Ms Mea: "Get down. Get out."

Garrett fired another shot, this time above. He continued to discharge the firearm several times while he exited through the back door, leaving 12 bullet casings found as evidence at the scene.

The cinema was put on lockdown, leaving film-goers shocked to see armed police swarming the area as they left their screenings. The gunman sped off through a red traffic light towards a Go Local store.

However, this time he left his rifle in the car and picked up two miniature bottles of vodka on credit before leaving without causing any trouble.

With booze in hand, he spent about an hour at his mother's house on Ternhall Road in Fazakerley before heading to his partner Jennifer Forshaw's home on Malpas Road in Croxteth around 10pm. It was here that he lost control for a third time.

A local resident was watching television, her children asleep upstairs, when their evening was disrupted by a loud bang. The noise woke her children, who immediately started crying.

The mother tried to calm them down, telling them it was just a firework, but then there was a second bang, followed by a third and a fourth.

She called the police, who advised her to lock her doors and turn off her lights. By the time officers arrived, Garrett had already left.

Ms Forshaw informed the police that her partner had fired the gun into the night sky without any provocation. He had been keeping the weapon at her house, where police found it along with a large stash of ammunition under her mattress.

Garrett then returned to his mother's house. Just after 4.30am, a team of 16 firearms officers, two negotiators and a dog handler arrived in armoured Land Rovers.

His 67-year-old mother was confronted at the door and forced to leave at gunpoint. When Garrett appeared, he was "agitated and aggressive" clad only in a blue T-shirt and boxer shorts.

Defiantly, he responded to demands to surrender with: "F*** off d***head."

Officers deployed a Taser to prevent him from potentially arming himself or barricading inside the house. He collapsed to the ground, bringing his remarkable spree of crimes to an end after nine hours.

Garrett remained uncooperative during police questioning once detained. Nevertheless, when he appeared before Liverpool Crown Court the next month, he pleaded guilty to all eight charges against him.

By the time his sentencing was due in April, Garrett had submitted a plea basis asserting that his actions were driven by a desire to be fatally shot by the responding police officers. This claim led to a 'trial of issue' at the same court this week a special hearing where a judge determines the facts for sentencing where two psychiatrists presented their opinions on whether Garrett's aim was indeed "suicide by cop".

Defence psychiatrist Dr Inti Qurashi remarked during his testimony: "Looking at what he did on the night seems bizarre. He goes from the newsagents to a public house to have a drink.

"He must know people are going to be out looking for him. He then goes to Showcase Cinema, a place where he's previously worked. I wonder whether he's looking to be caught. It seems to me, he's going from place to place to place - I think he's escalating.

"It may have been partially financial, it may have been a grievance. But he wouldn't have taken a gun, in my view, and fired it recklessly if he hadn't been severely depressed.

"He'd lost all hope. He didn't feel like living.

"He hasn't done this before. It seems grossly disproportionate to what he's previously been convicted for.

"Essentially he can't commit suicide by his own hands because that's a step too far for him, but he wants to kill himself. I can get the cops to do it for me."

However, the prosecution's psychiatrist, Dr Prakash Raviraj, disputed these claims of "suicide by cop". He told the court: "I would not agree that he was severely depressed.

"Moderate depression along with drinking was what I suggest was happening. It was almost bordering onto dependence."

Additionally, Dr Raviraj stated that Garrett had not shown any symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, unlike what his opposite number had claimed. He added: "Everything is pointing in the direction that, when he set out, he had a motivation that he wanted money.

"He moved on from there, he didn't stop for the police to attend. If he really wanted to be shot by the police, to be killed, that's not what we've heard. There is clear evidence of him acting in a manner that doesn't go in favour of suicide by cop at all. I have never come across any other case."

During the two-day hearing, Garrett also testified, expressing that the cumulative impact of life events had "killed him". Regarding his feelings towards Showcase Cinema after losing his job, he shared: "Not angry towards them, just frustrated - frustrated at myself."

His lawyer, Paul Lewis, probed further: "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."

Lewis continued to inquire: "Did you have any ill feeling towards any of the staff? " To which Garrett answered simply: "No."

Addressing the notion of "suicide by cop" as a motive, Garrett admitted: "That's how I was feeling. I'd had enough of everything."

He reflected on his intentions during the incident, saying: "I don't think my intentions would have been to hurt someone. Obviously, at that time, I didn't know what my intentions were."

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

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

David Birrell, prosecuting, challenged the defendant during cross-examination with the words: "You went to the Showcase Cinema, where you used to work until they sacked you. You had a grudge, didn't you? ".

Garrett responded: "I was angry. But I didn't have a grudge."

On the cusp of his 50th birthday, Garrett found himself sentenced to 14 years behind bars on Friday. Clad in a grey Nike sweatshirt and displaying a cross around his neck while standing in the dock, he received an additional four-year licence period.

Judge David Aubrey delivered the sentence, remarking: "The footage graphically shows your chilling acts. [Mr Singh] believed he was going to be killed and describes his heart beating out of his chest, and that he has never been so scared in his life.

"This was not an isolated offence of endangering the life of another and causing panic and trepidation to others - it was the beginning of what can only be described as a campaign of terror and fear and causing mayhem, during which many lives were potentially put at risk by your actions. It is fortunate there were no fatalities that night.

"You then drove to the Showcase Cinema on the East Lancashire Road. You knew that cinema.

"You used to work there as a security guard, but lost your job after complaints had been made about your conduct to other members of staff. In my judgment, it is no coincidence you went to that location.

"Whilst the court accepts that you have been subject to childhood trauma and have experienced difficulties with your mental health, in my judgment those factors were not the motivation in the commission of these offences. Anger, alcohol and resentment are constant themes, and I am satisfied they were the catalysts for that which you did.

"I am satisfied that you were not seeking to place yourself in a position where trained police officers would have had no alternative but to take drastic and fatal action. You had every opportunity so to do and I am satisfied that, notwithstanding any disorder which I have found, you had no suicidal intent on the night of the offences.

"I am satisfied you knew precisely what you were doing, demanding money from the shop owner whilst holding and discharging a firearm. You appeared to enjoy showing that firearm to customers at the public house.

"You felt powerful and in control that night. I am satisfied that these offences were borne out of anger, alcohol, and resentment.

"You do have previous convictions, but none that aggravate the seriousness of these offences and, save for one offence of common assault in 2003, you have no previous convictions for violence. I do take into account my findings as to your medical condition by way of personal mitigation and the fact that, in the cold light of day, you now regret your actions.

"You are a very unpredictable person. On the night in question, you were behaving irrationally and placing lives at risk.

"I remind myself that a sentence of life imprisonment is a sentence of last resort. l do not consider that a determinate sentence provides sufficient protection to members of the public but, bearing in mind your age and the length of the custodial term you will be obliged or may have to serve, the court stands back from imposing a sentence of life imprisonment and the court will impose an extended sentence."