Asda axeman jailed for violent rampage

GLENROTHES: Man brandished weapon outside store

A man who was thrown out of a Fife supermarket and sent terrified staff and shoppers fleeing for their lives when he returned brandishing an axe has been jailed for more than three years.

Richard Flynn, 40, strode back towards the entrance of the Asda store in Glenrothes with the weapon in both hands from his car just moments after going berserk at staff who had asked him to leave the premises.

Quick-thinking employees managed to lock the doors and usher customers to the safety of the shop’s warehouse, but Flynn’s meltdown continued outside his home address in Alves Drive when he deliberately reversed his car into a police car and injured two officers within the vehicle.

“It’s fair to say that you carried out an appalling catalogue of public disorder and violence over the space of a few hours,” Sheriff James Williamson told Flynn via video link at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court yesterday.

Flynn’s solicitor said his client had suffered a deterioration in his mental health at the time of the incident after the death of his mother and being made redundant.

Sheriff Williamson sentenced Flynn to a total of 40 months’ imprisonment.

An axe-wielding man who forced the closure of a Fife supermarket as staff and customers feared for their lives has been jailed for more than three years.

Terrified onlookers at the Asda store in Glenrothes watched in horror as Richard Flynn, 40, returned to his car after being asked to leave the shop and pulled out an axe before striding back towards the entrance.

Staff, who had cowered as Flynn threw various items at them just minutes earlier, managed to lock the doors to prevent a more serious outcome.

But Flynn’s meltdown did not end there.

He went on to deliberately reverse his car into a police car in his street, sending the vehicle and two officers who had dived into it to avoid injury a distance of 15 metres from where it had been parked.

Sentencing Flynn at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, Sheriff James Williamson said someone could have been seriously injured had it not been for the quick thinking of the Asda staff.

“It’s fair to say that you carried out an appalling catalogue of public disorder and violence over the space of a few hours,” the sheriff told Flynn via video link.

Flynn admitted throwing a basket of groceries, water bottles, sanitising spray and plants at staff at the Asda in Fullerton Road on July 1, throwing a trolley at scanning devices and then walking to his car before brandishing an axe in the car park.

He also admitted possessing an offensive weapon, and deliberately reversing at speed towards PCs Craig McNicol and Mark Farrell in Alves Drive, Glenrothes, later that morning.

The court previously heard Flynn had been banned from the store and suddenly became argumentative after being asked to leave.

After swinging and hitting staff members with a basket, causing one to fall back into a display of car seats, he launched items at employees before leaving.

There was no relief though as Flynn went back to his Ford Focus, pulled out an axe and was seen holding it in both hands as he headed back towards the supermarket.

Staff locked doors to deny him entry, and he was later tracked down to his home address in Alves Drive, where he reversed his vehicle towards officers sent to arrest him.

The two officers who sought refuge in their marked car needed hospital treatment.

Solicitor Graham Inch said his client’s mental health had suffered after being made redundant and the suffering the death of his mother, who lived in Portugal, during lockdown.

Sheriff James Williamson sentenced Flynn to a total of 40 months in prison backdated to July 2.