Mum filmed battering shop hero with mop
A MOTHER-OF-TWO attacked a shop assistant with a wooden mop handle after he bravely detained her boyfriend in a citizen’s arrest.
Debra McGhee, 33, set about Adam Tongo when he chased and wrestled Bradley Jackson to the ground after the victim’s car was vandalised.
During the frenzied assault, which was captured on CCTV, McGhee was seen repeatedly striking Mr Tongo about the head and body before attempting to throttle him with the mop.
Mr Tongo, who had just arrived for his shift at a Shell service station in Oldham, was left gasping for air and unable to breathe until a workmate intervened to rescue him.
The victim sustained various injuries and was left with temporary blurred vision and had to take four weeks off work as a result of the beating.
The force administered during the attack caused the wooden mop handle to snap.
At Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, a judge ordered footage of the beating be shown so the public could see for themselves the extent of what he called a ‘prolonged and persistent’ assault.
McGhee, of Werneth, Oldham, was jailed for 21 months while Jackson, of Oldham town centre, was jailed for 26 months after being found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm following a trial.
Jackson, 33, was also found guilty of criminal damage.
The assault took place at 8am on May 19, 2019, after Mr Tongo spotted McGhee and Jackson loitering at the service station shop as he arrived for work in his Toyota Yaris.
Sophie Kenny, prosecuting, said: “He immediately recognised the two individuals as shoplifters and as he approached the male, he told him to ‘go away.’ But the male replied, ‘F*** off, who are you?’ The male then lashed out and punched Mr Tongo to the right side of his jaw and the left side of his head using clenched fists before walking off.”
Jackson then smashed windows on both workers’ cars before Mr Tongo picked up the mop from the shop floor. He chased Jackson and managed to restrain him in a bear hug.
McGhee then picked up the mop and launched her attack.
Ms Kenny said: “These two defendants acted together and used a weapon and in respect of McGhee’s involvement, there is an element of strangulation. Mr Tongo describes her holding the wooden handle across his throat and pulling back, as a result he was struggling to breathe and fell to the floor losing his grip on Mr Jackson when restraining him on the floor.’’