55 convictions in 19 years. Now Boomerang Boy faces prison again after axe raid
A PROLIFIC criminal who gained notoriety as a teenager in the 1990s for committing more than 1,000 crimes is facing jail once again after carrying out a terrifying raid on a post office.
Shaun McKerry, 31, was infamous in his youth and became known as Boomerang Boy due to the number of times he returned to court to face judges.
But nearly 20 years after his crime spree came to light and despite numerous spells behind bars, the thug still leads a life of crime after soft justice failed to stop him offending.
The axe-wielding drug addict and alcoholic targeted the post office last month but was foiled by brave postmaster Sab Dhillon.
CCTV footage shows Mr Dhillon grappling with McKerry, wrecking shelves as the criminal wildly swings the weapon. He was eventually subdued when Mr Dhillon’s wife Sam struck him with a baseball bat, leaving him with a bloody nose. Police arrive moments later.
Mr Dhillon last night criticised the courts for allowing McKerry to roam the streets and said he should be left to languish in jail to protect the public. The career criminal – who has racked up 55 convictions for 120 offences – is now facing jail for the attack, after admitting attempted robbery at Durham Crown Court. He will be sentenced later this month.
McKerry first got into trouble at the age of 12. By the age of 15 he had already been arrested 80 times and was thought to be the ring leader of a gang responsible for 1,000 crimes. His ability to manipulate the court system to avoid being locked up as a minor also led to him being nicknamed Homing Pigeon Boy, due to always returning home after offending.
Even his mother, Paula Hart, who says drugs made her son evil, said yesterday he should be locked up. ‘It is heartbreaking to have a son or daughter who is getting in trouble,’ she said. ‘I always did all I could but he still did the things he did.’
McKerry, whose convictions include stealing vehicles, assaulting a police officer, shoplifting and criminal damage, was last jailed in 2011 – sentenced to four years over a knifepoint robbery on a takeaway delivery man. It was said at the time that he had only 18 months to live after years of addiction to drugs and misuse of alcohol left him with cirrhosis and deep vein thrombosis.
But after appearing at court via video-link on Tuesday, McKerry was told by judge Christopher Prince that another stint behind bars is likely.
He targeted the Dhillon family’s post office and corner shop in Shildon, Durham, on a quiet Sunday night, demanding cash from terrified assistant Andrea Brighty. But he reckoned without 46-year- old Mr Dhillon, whose rugby tackle dropped him to the floor, before Mrs Dhillon, 40, stepped in with their son’s baseball bat.
Speaking after the hearing, Mr Dhillon said: ‘After all the chances he’s had I have to wonder whether he should have been out on the streets. There are some people who just refuse to be helped and all you can do is lock them up for the safety of the public.’
Police arrested another man suspected of being an accomplice and bailed him pending inquiries.