Keyham shooting threats man sent to jail

AHis offence was so serious because the defendant said that he had a gun and a knife COURT RECORDS

SICK troublemaker mentioned the Keyham shooting while threatening people – claiming he had a gun and a knife.

James Thornton, aged 37 (pictured right) put a man and a woman in fear of their safety by referring to the killing of five innocent people in Plymouth in August, city magistrates heard.

Thornton has been jailed for a string of offences, including breaching a court order intended to control his nuisance behaviour.

He pleaded guilty to threatening behaviour towards a man and a woman putting them in fear of violence in Plymouth on September 25.

Thornton, of St Ive, between Liskeard and Callington, admitted being drunk at the city’s railway station that day which put him in breach of a Criminal Behaviour Order.

He was in breach of a suspended prison sentence for a similar breach in Liskeard on May 31.

Plymouth magistrates jailed him for a total of 36 weeks and ordered him to pay £130 compensation to his victims.

Court records state: “Offence so serious because defendant said he had a gun and a knife and was threatening people unlawful violence, whereby those persons were likely to believe that, while referring to the recent mass shooting in Plymouth, when five innocent people were killed.”

Maxine Davison, aged 51, Stephen Washington, 59, Kate Shepherd, 66, Lee Martyn, 43 and three-year-old Sophie Martyn were murdered on the evening of August 12 this year. The gunman took his own life.

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall estimates that about 300 people witnessed part of the incident in Keyham. Three separate investigations are already underway. A wave of support measures has been put in place by the Government, Plymouth City Council and the police.

Thornton was handed the Criminal Behaviour Order by magistrates in Scarborough in 2018. He was banned from being drunk in any public place in England and Wales until the end of this year. North Yorkshire Police said that Thornton was responsible for drunken and intimidating behaviour in nearby Filey. The force said that he had previously been offered help to tackle any alcohol issues.