Thug threatens McDonald's customers and staff with knife after being refused service at drive-thru

A man has been sentenced to 12 months in prison after threatening McDonald's customers and staff with a large kitchen knife.

Alexander Walker arrived at the restaurant in Cwmdu, Swansea at around 2.30am on Sunday 6 June 2021. He is said to have initially pulled a knife out on staff after they refused to serve him.

Swansea Crown Court heard how Walker, 28, of McRitchie Place, then tried to get other people in the car park to buy him a burger. When they refused, he swore, flashed the knife at them and then threatened to stab them.

After walking past a line of cars waiting at the drive-thru he was again refused service and began stabbing the plastic screens with the knife, shattering one of them.

The court also heard how the manager of the McDonald's in Cwmdu effectively locked down the premises, with the police receiving a number of 999 calls.

Armed police were sent to the restaurant and Walker was arrested, denying that he had the weapon. However a "significantly-sized kitchen knife" was recovered nearby, and subsequent DNA tests linked it to him.

In Swansea Crown Court, Walker, pleaded guilty to affray, possession of a bladed article, and criminal damage. He has 22 previous offences including, criminal damage, affray, and possession of a bladed article.

The court also heard how the incident had happened just weeks after Walker had threatened families on a Swansea beach with a knife, and racially abused them. He was originally sentenced to two years in prison for that crime but that was subsequently varied to 97 weeks.

Dan Griffiths, who was representing Walker, said his defendant had never properly come to terms with the deaths of two of this brothers - one in a road traffic collision and one through a drugs overdose.

He also said at the time of his offending Walker was abusing street Valium and alcohol, and his life had gone "off the rails".

The advocate said the substance misuse had made Walker's behaviour "very unpredictable and prone to outbursts of aggression" which saw him coming into conflict with people and which led to him carrying a knife.

Court Recorder, Benjamin Blakemore, said it was worrying Walker had taken to carrying a knife, and said carrying such weapons did nothing more than escalate the dangers to the person with the blade and to others around them.

He said he could see little prospect of rehabilitation for the defendant at the present time, and noted that he had an extremely poor history of complying with court orders.

Walker has been sentenced to 12 months in prison comprising 12 months for the affray, 12 months for the possession of the knife, and four weeks for the criminal damage all to run concurrently with one another.

He will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.