Drunk man sped through supermarket on mobility scooter

A drunk man sped through the aisles of a supermarket on a mobility scooter while being pursued by security staff, a court heard.

Andrew Peacock, 46, who was already banned from Lidl in Richmond following a previous incident, ignored staff’s pleas for him to leave as he drove down the aisles, York Crown Court heard.

It was just one of a series of incidents in which Peacock breached his criminal-behaviour order (CBO) on no less than six occasions in 2025, said prosecutor Kelly Clarke.

The order, originally imposed by magistrates in 2015, prohibited Peacock from having an open can of alcohol in public, calling the emergency services unless in an emergency, being drunk in a public place and entering NHS premises unless it was for genuine reasons.

Peacock, who has 344 previous offences on his record, was charged with six breaches of the CBO and one count of threatening behaviour towards the security officer at Lidl.

He admitted all matters and appeared for sentence via video link on Friday, April 24, after being remanded in custody.

The first two breaches of the CBO occurred last summer when Peacock made 10 nuisance calls to police “in just under two hours, saying he needed an ambulance because he was going to slit his wrists”.

“He continued to do this even after he was advised (by a police call-taker) to request an ambulance instead,” said Ms Clarke.

“Even when an ambulance attended, he continued to call police. In one of the calls, he claimed paramedics refused to see him, then paramedics were heard saying that wasn’t the case.”

In another call, he called a police operator a “dickhead” and told another call-taker to “shut up” when asked to end the call, which he refused to do.

On May 24, he made his way to the Lidl store on Queens Road on his mobility scooter where the security officer told him he couldn’t enter because he was banned. Peacock, who was reeking of alcohol, ignored him and told staff he “wanted police to be called”.

He refused to leave and drove his mobility scooter “quite fast” down the aisle.

The security guard and his colleague tried to escort him out of the store as he sped up and down the shopping aisles, but this only ruffled Peacock’s feathers as he shouted: “I’m not a thief! Fxxxxxx get outside now. You are done, you are done.”

Police were called and, on their arrival, they could hear Peacock shouting to the security officer: “You’re a dead man. I’m going to be out tomorrow. I’m going to get you.”

When police spoke to Peacock, he told them he would “go back to the store the next day and “stab” the security guard.

A week later, he dialled 999 three times in a day saying he “needed police because he was going to ‘The Lion’ pub to start a fight” with someone who he claimed had slandered him.

Bizarrely, Peacock started playing music down the phone and called the police operator “stupid”.

On June 16, he called police four times, swearing at a call-taker and claiming he had been robbed, then claiming that there had been a murder.

On August 15, he was arrested again for breaching his CBO when a police officer found him drinking from a can of cider on Victoria Road in Richmond.

On November 3, he turned up drunk at the Harewood Medical Practice on Richmond Road, Catterick Garrison, without an appointment.

He was told he couldn’t be seen by a doctor but was given an appointment for the following week but told staff he would “kill himself if he wasn’t seen (on the spot)”.

On Christmas Eve, just after midnight, he turned up at the Premier Inn in Darlington and refused to leave when asked to do so by staff at whom he aimed a volley of abuse. When police arrived, he continued to shout and swear.

Five days later, he turned up at Richmond Police Station, claiming he was there “to help out a friend”, but was stumped when officers asked him for details. He was duly arrested for the hoax whereupon officers found an open can of cider in his pocket.

Ms Clarke said that Peacock had 193 previous convictions for 344 offences dating back to 2011 when the first of his 29 CBO breaches occurred. His rap sheet also included assaulting police officers, 73 previous convictions for being drunk and disorderly and 13 court appearances for making nuisance phone calls.

He also had a track record for breaching anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs), suspended jail sentences and “court orders generally”.

Last year, he was given a three-month suspended prison sentence for possessing a Class A drug, having an air weapon and breaching the CBO.

Peacock’s defence counsel said that the troubled Richmond man looked much older than his years due to the ravages of a “26-year (alcohol) addiction” which had resulted in multiple chronic health conditions including heart disease and diabetes.

He said that Peacock, of no fixed address, had been guaranteed a place at a residential alcohol-rehab centre which would house him for 18 months.

Judge Simon Hickey said he was minded to give Peacock another chance to avoid jail but deferred sentence for three months to see if he could stay out of trouble and obey his orders, otherwise he would be facing about three-and-a-half years in jail.

He told Peacock: “I want to see if there is an opportunity for you to break this incredibly lengthy record.”

He said that one of the provisos for avoiding prison was for Peacock to “save up some money” to compensate the staff member at Lidl whom he verbally abused. Other conditions were to stay away from supermarkets and police stations.

The judge granted Peacock’s release from jail until the deferred sentence date on July 17.