An Aberdeen man who burst into the kitchen of a McDonald’s restaurant and screamed at staff was suffering from cocaine paranoia, a court has heard.
John Paul Gallagher appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted acting in a “deranged” manner at the Union Street fast-food outlet.
It was stated that the 34-year-old terrified staff by shouting and screaming at them before touching fryers containing boiling oil.
When police arrived and attempted to remove Gallagher from the scene he tried to bite an officer on the hand.
Spray coming from John Paul Gallagher’s mouth
Fiscal depute Georgia Laird told the court that at around 10.40pm on October 3 2021, a witness within McDonald’s saw Gallagher enter and sit down at a table.
He then got up and barged through the doors that led to the food preparation area and walked to the rear of the kitchen.
“The witness made repeated requests for the accused to leave – at which point he began to scream and shout incoherently and in a frantic manner,” Ms Laird said.
“This concerned staff, who were operating frying machines.
“The witness then observed that the accused then began touching the fryers.
“Due to his screaming, they observed some spray coming from his mouth.”
Staff contacted police and when they arrived they found Gallagher at the back of the kitchen in an agitated state.
As they tried to take Gallagher into custody, he attempted to bite one officer on the hand, which was only narrowly avoided by the constable pulling his hand away in time.
As the officers led Gallagher away, he continued to shout incoherently.
Appearing for sentence, Gallagher pleaded guilty to one charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner to McDonald’s staff and placing them in a state of fear or alarm.
He also admitted a second charge of assault for attempting to bite a police officer.
Gallagher also admitted a third charge, from May 6 this year, of being in possession of a quantity of cannabis.
‘Drug-based paranoia’ spurred man to storm into McDonald’s kitchen
His defence solicitor, Stuart Murray, told the court that Gallagher’s behaviour could be best described as “unusual to say the least”.
“He was using cocaine on an almost daily basis,” Mr Murray said.
“For some reason only known to him, he made his way to the kitchen area – it was drug-based paranoia I would suggest.”
Sheriff Margaret Hodge described Gallagher’s behaviour towards McDonald’s staff as “deranged”.
“You have an extensive history of criminal behaviour but it does appear you have taken some steps to diminish your offending since this incident,” she added.
As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff Hodge made Gallagher, of Overhill Gardens, Aberdeen, subject to a community payback order and ordered him to carry out 145 hours of unpaid work.
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