A man sent two of his friends to a woman's home to make gun-point threats after she had a furious row with his mum at a pub.
Amanda Traynor, 46, called her son Andrew Rathbone after falling out with two sisters – Aimee Fagan and Kayleigh Taylor – at the Windmill pub in Kirkby on March 12, 2022.
The following day, two friends of Rathbone, Michael Brown and Liam Higham, turned up outside Ms Fagan's home, where she was sitting in her car, and pointed what appeared to be a gun at her. The weapon was never found and the Crown Prosecution Service accepted it was an imitation firearm.
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Traynor, of Pinfold Crescent in Kirkby, was initially charged in relation to the firearms offences but those counts were dropped after Rathbone, Brown and Higham admitted conspiring to possess an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
The three men were sentenced in November, but today at Liverpool Crown Court Traynor appeared for sentence in relation to one count of assaulting an emergency worker after "completely and utterly" losing her temper when police arrived to arrest her.
Stephen McNally, prosecuting, told the court: "According to Ms Traynor’s own account in voice-notes sent via WhatsApp during the course of that evening, the argument had started when Ms Traynor referred to a third party, who was not present. as 'an autistic c***'. Kayleigh Taylor, as the mother of an autistic child, had taken exception at the pejorative use of that term and challenged the Defendant about it.
"Matters developed exponentially from there. Telephone evidence, including voice-notes and text messages recovered, established that Ms Traynor had immediately contacted her son Andrew Rathbone. He, in turn, contacted Michael Brown and Liam Higham. Ultimately, Brown and Higham would attend the home address of Aimee Fagan shortly before 9pm the following evening when a weapon was produced and an accompanying intimidatory message was passed. A report was made to the police that same evening."
Mr McNally said police attended Traynor's address on March 15, and spotted her arriving in a vehicle. PCs Bethan Roberts and Ellie Service approached the defendant who asked: "What do yous want?".
The three women went into the house and the officers explained there had been an allegation, and that Traynor would find out more detail at the police station. Mr McNally said: "Ms Traynor is described as initially remaining calm, although she did make comments about the fact that PC Service’s accent was doing her f****** head in.
"Ms Traynor decided that she wanted to leave the room and go upstairs in order to, as she put it, 'sort my face'."
The court heard PC Roberts followed Traynor upstairs, who told her to "f**** off" and raised a make up brush in a way that made the officer think it was about to be thrown at her.
Mr McNally said: "The officer raised her right hand to prevent that, at which point the Defendant took a grip of her middle and ring fingers and, gritting her teeth, began to pull the officer down towards the bed. PC Roberts shouted at the Defendant to let go, but she did not.
"Having heard the commotion, PC Service entered the room and both officers sought to restrain the Defendant who was literally kicking and screaming. A PC Rimmer entered the room and was able to restrain the Defendant sufficiently for PCs Roberts and Service to apply handcuffs."
The court heard that initially the prosecution case was put on the basis that Traynor had said she may have covid and had "coughed" in the direction of PC Roberts, but Mr McNally said that element of the case was denied and had been dropped.
He said that a "spit hood" was applied to Traynor after she was handcuffed, and after it was removed she continued to be abusive until she was taken to the custody suite. PC Roberts sustained minor injuries to her fingers in the incident.
NIcola Daley, defending, said her client had no previous convictions and had been struggling with mental health issues and side effects believed to be related to the menopause at the time of the incidents.
She said: "She accepts she should not have reacted in that way but this was an isolated reaction, she had never been in this situation before, and being in her mid 40s she was in a position she had never been in before by way not simply of mental health, but she was also at that stage, as she says, acting irrationally and struggling with emotions, as she was awaiting medication from her GP."
Ms Daley said since this incident her client had received medication and was "appalled" by her behaviour.
Judge David Aubrey, KC, passing sentence, told Traynor he was not sentencing her for any matters directly related to the firearms incident. However he told her: "I’m quite satisfied that you had some knowledge of what was to happen. I say that for this reason; you had been involved with another person in a verbal altercation with Aimee Fagan and another outside a public house.
"As a result of that argument you contacted your son and thereafter your son and others took steps of retribution. Retribution can have no place in a civilised society whatsoever."
He told Traynor she had acted "arrogantly" when police arrived, knowing "full well" why they were there. Judge Aubrey said: "Your conduct and behaviour was thoroughly reprehensible, it was abusive, it was arrogant."
Judge Aubrey also told the court that if he was sentencing her on the basis she had deliberately coughed at a police officer after saying she had covid, he would have had "no hesitation" in passing an immediate custodial sentence.
However she was spared jail, and handed a prison sentence of 14 months suspended for 12 months, with requirements to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and to complete 20 Rehabilitation Activity Days with the Probation Service.
Last month Rathbone, 25, of Freckleton Road, St Helens was jailed for three years; Brown, 26, of no fixed abode for three years and Higham, 21, of Ashfield Crescent, Kirkby for 30 months.
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