An old Chorlton man, branded Britain’s rudest pensioner, has been jailed again after decades of bad and grumpy behaviour which has seen him locked up more than FIFTY times.
Scotsman John O’Neill, 71, has been compared to one of ‘the old gits’ from the Harry Enfield TV shows after waging a campaign of misery across Manchester with his foul mouthed temper tantrums and yob thuggery.
The OAP – who claims to be a science graduate – would drink whiskey and smoke cannabis before terrorising locals with his rantings over everyday life – even including a tirade against a mother feeding her child.
Council officials obtained a five year ASBO against O’Neill after getting complaints about his behaviour in a string of shops and restaurants including M&S, Café Rouge, Lidl, Tesco Express and retail outlets at Manchester Airport.
Locals complained about him swearing and shouting aggressively, urinating on a vehicle and even defecating on a lawn in front of horrified witnesses.
One member of staff at a shop transferred to another branch to avoid having to deal with him.
Last Friday O’Neill, who has clocked up 235 offences since 1968, was hauled back to court after police tackled him over an incident at a bakery in Crumpsall.
A PCSO, who found him slumped on a park bench, was told by the OAP: “Fuck you, I will put bullets in your fucking head. Are you bomb proof? Because I will fucking bomb you.”
At Manchester Crown Court, O’Neill admitted breaching his ASBO and was locked away for three months.
The court heard the old man had ‘voluminous criminal record’ and was once described by a judge as a ‘thorough nuisance’ who was ‘foul mouthed, aggressive and had no respect for authority or for police, shop keepers and members of the public’.
In 2009 he was issued with his ASBO after causing misery in the Didsbury and Rusholme areas of Manchester.
Manchester City Council provided evidence of 53 incidents involving O’Neill which also included shop lifting and being in possession of cannabis and having a knife.
At the time, the ASBO banned O’Neill from using abusive, insulting, offensive, threatening or intimidating language or behaviour in a public place or in any place to which the public has access.
He was also barred from urinating or defecating in a public place or in any place to which the public has access – except for designated public toilets – or taking property belonging to someone else without paying or without the consent of the owner.
He was also excluded from a large area of south Manchester, including the airport unless he has a valid ticket for travel.
But last year O’Neill shouted at a young mother at a Costa coffee shop in Chorlton, claiming her ‘hoity toity’ and ‘snooty’ attitude set him off.
She was breaking a biscuit to feed her son when O’Neill turned to the two-year-old and said ‘she’ll break you into pieces next’.
He then told the boy, ‘don’t take any of that bull****, you will be taking that your whole life’.
When the mother confronted him about his language, O’Neill began screaming, calling her a ‘fucking balloon’ and a ‘shit mum’.
The pensioner was in such a fury that he could be heard across Chorlton precinct, leading nearby shopkeepers to step in and restrain him.
During other incidents he flew into a violent rage on a bus, and pushed over a shop worker.
Last July he was given a nine-month community order, with a plea from a judge to start behaving himself.
But on January 15, he entered a bakery in Crumpsall and began to abuse staff to the point they called in the police.
Prosecuting, Justin Hayhoe said: “Staff at the bakery in Crumpsall saw the defendant, who was highly intoxicated and being abusive.
“They tried to eject him and a PCSO attended and saw the defendant slumped in a seat. They engaged him and he was abusive towards them.
“He has a voluminous antecedent record, with a plethora of convictions for dishonesty, some violent, several involving alcohol.
“He has received a variety of sentences including discharges, fines, community orders and custody. He has habitually and repeatedly breached ASBOs.”
In mitigation, Robert Smith said: “The defendant accepts he had consumed whiskey and cannabis and has no memory of what has happened.
“Perhaps his biggest mitigation is he has pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.”
Story and picture via Cavendish Press, with thanks.
