Hundreds forced out of Wetherspoon pub as banned player douses petrol

A dad described as “a time bomb” threw petrol around a busy Wetherspoons pub in front of dozens of customers, making the drink “a potential inferno”. Nottingham Crown Court heard how David Shaw “endangers the lives of up to 200 people” being banned only the day before.

In their panic to get out, a couple, both in their 80s and one recovering from a very recent stroke, slipped on the fuel and injured themselves. Now the 42-year-old man has been put behind bars for his potentially fatal actions.

Sentencing him to two years in prison, Judge Stuart Rafferty KC said: “Knowing that you had difficulties, you tried to live with them without seeking their help. Nothing stopped you from going to the doctors to say “I’m depressed, I need help”.

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“In doing that, you made yourself, whether you knew it or not, and I suspect you did, a very angry man. A ticking time bomb.

“You thought, whether it was true or not, that other people were saying things about you, and this caused you considerable anger. Then you made the decision to endanger the lives of over 100 people or closer to 200 people.

“You walked into a crowded pub in a small town on a sunny afternoon where people were enjoying themselves – old people, people your age and younger, and children – armed with two cans of petrol that you started to sprinkle Potentially, these premises were an inferno, with you at the center of it.

“You didn’t think about it at all. People were panicking, you were shouting “everyone out”. An 84-year-old man, recovering from a stroke he suffered just two weeks before, slipped on gasoline and smashed his face on the floor. Pandemonium could have broken out and what did you do? After being refused a drink in that pub, you got into the van and drove to another. That hardly shows any immediate remorse.”

Richardo Childs, prosecuting, said the incident happened at the Butter Cross pub, in Market Place, Bingham, on the afternoon of June 15 last year. He said Shaw had entered the premises earlier but was refused service as he had been barred the night before.

The prosecutor said as the defendant left he told a member of staff “don’t bother coming to work tomorrow, there won’t be any pubs”. Mr Childs said: “Approximately 30 minutes later, when there were 150 to 200 customers enjoying a drink, the same member of staff saw the defendant enter the kitchen door carrying two cans of petrol.

“He started shouting ‘everybody out’ over and over, causing panic in the public bar. A couple in their 80s were inside and she later said she told her husband it looked like the defendant “meant business.”

“One of the staff tried to pull him out and pushed him and some of the petrol he was spraying ended up on their clothes. And the elderly couple slipped and fell while trying to get out.”

Mr Childs said Shaw, of Thornfield Way, Aslockton, left but was confronted nearby by a man who witnessed the incident and told him “there are kids in the pub”. The defendant then got into his van and drove off, but was later arrested at a nearby pub.

He pleaded guilty to affray and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Rebecca Coleman, mitigating, said her client had suffered a number of traumatic episodes in his life, particularly when he moved to Spain as a teenager. The exact details of what happened to him were not revealed in court.

She said: “The trigger for the incident wasn’t the pub itself, it was the fact that certain people were taunting him and he just wanted to stop.”

In addition to the prison sentence, the judge banned the defendant from entering any licensed premises for two years. Nottinghamshire Live has requested Shaw’s custody photo from Nottinghamshire Police.