Thug Alan Merry jailed for four years for crime spree

Alan Merry, 33, harassed an ex-partner, stole her car and burst into a stranger’s home before scaring children and grandparents in the fast food restaurant, in Weeley.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard Merry appeared to be “in his own little bubble” when he entered the restaurant.

He swore and uttered racial slurs, before the customer care manager decided to take action.

When approached, Merry swore at the employee and used further racist language before saying: “Christ will kill you.”

Nicola May, prosecuting, said: “He took hold of her right bicep and shoved her into the condiments.

“A bandage had come off his leg, revealing a swastika tattoo. In the context of his comments this caused alarm and distress to customers.”

Earlier that day, Merry turned up unannounced on the doorstep of his ex-partner’s home.

He was in breach of a restraining order after a previous assault against her.

Feeling scared and intimidated, she agreed to drive Merry to his grandmother’s home in St Osyth.

Merry stole her car keys and kept her at the house for two hours, before she persuaded him to let her drive to Clacton to pick up her child.

Merry joined her on the journey but the victim managed to get out of the car and flee.

Merry drove to an address in Old Road, where he burst into a stranger’s flat and searched room-to-room for two women.

Inside was a young mother and her two children.

A victim impact statement revealed she was so terrified by the incident she never returned to the flat again.

Merry admitted two charges of breaching a restraining order, racially-aggravated assault, using violence to secure entry and driving without a licence or insurance.

Ioana Nedelcu, mitigating, said Merry’s offending stemmed from an untreated personality disorder and ADHD.

Jailing the thug for four years, Judge Patricia Lynch QC said: “I cannot impress upon you how seriously these sort of offences are taken.”