Dad fired from Marks and Spencer said he would stab worker ‘in the skull’

A dad “let his anger and temper take over” after he was kicked out of a Marks and Spencer store and ended up in jail.

Jon Chiocchi was confronted by security when he was apparently caught red-handed stealing. But he responded by pulling a baseball bat from the boot of his car and threatening to stab the staff member’s keys “into the skull”.

Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday afternoon, Thursday, that the 48-year-old man was spotted by staff at M&S ​​in Aintree Shopping Park placing groceries on top shortly before 9.30am on the 19 July last year. Chiocchi, of Nelville Road in Walton, was asked to remove the goods but denied having anything hidden in his clothes before pushing worker Daniel Whitley.

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Nardeen Nemat, prosecuting, described how the staff member pushed Chiocchi back in an effort to restrain him with the help of a colleague. The alleged thief was said to have opened his mouth and moved his head towards the complainant while apparently trying to bite him.

Chiocchi later said he would return the stock, but added: “Come to my car. I have something for you”.

După ce a fost escortat în afara sediului, el a continuat să protesteze lângă intrare și la numit pe domnul Whitley un „cap de nenorocit” și un „c*** dezordonat”. Chiocchi initially left at this stage, but then returned after placing a key between his fingers and saying, “I’m going to put this in your skull.”

He went on to ask his victim if he had any children and told her he was “going to follow him home and find out where he lives”. The father of a teenage son then took a wooden bat out of the boot of his car and said “come here, come get it” before driving off.

Chiocchi was later arrested at his home address after opening the door to officers “while wielding a small kitchen knife”, which he then dropped. He has previous convictions for wounding, public order offenses and shoplifting.

Martyn Walsh, defending, told the court his client’s 13-year-old boy suffers from speech and language difficulties, with the youngster’s mother having died in 2018. He added the incident was “relatively short but deeply unpleasant” and said: “He’s not proud of himself.

“Perhaps this is a defendant who could be given one last chance with the sword of a suspended sentence hanging over him. Perhaps the defendant would see that this was his last chance.”

Chiocchi – who is also said to be struggling with health issues including COPD and used an inhaler during the hearing – admitted using threatening behavior and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place. He sat with his head in his hands and puffed out his cheeks while imprisoned for nine months.

Sentencing, Judge Katherine Pierpoint said: “He was just doing his job. You didn’t like being confronted by him.

“You should have left, but you let your anger and temper take over. A shop detective who is just there to do his job shouldn’t put up with this kind of behavior and neither should members of the public.

“You now have an established pattern of offending that shows you are aggressive and threatening towards security staff in very similar situations. You have serious convictions for violence, albeit from several years ago.

“You didn’t stop offending then. In my opinion, you have not learned from your past behavior.

“You are a man who has another side to you. You clearly have a number of serious health difficulties.

“You also have mental health issues. You have suffered tragedies in your life.

“You express regret and remorse for what you have done. In the words of your counsel, you are not proud of what you did that day.”

Chiocchi turned to a supporter in the public gallery after learning of his fate. The woman told him “one last time” as he was led to the cells.

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