A NOTORIOUS street drinker who was 'out of his mind drunk' threatened to ‘smash up’ McDonald’s in Worcester during a drunken rampage which ended when he spat in a police officer's face.

Homeless nuisance Peter Swinbourne carried out the ‘disgusting’ attack at the fast food restaurant in the city centre, also breaking a protective screen designed to protect staff and customers from Covid-19.

The violent outburst happened after staff had asked Swinbourne politely to leave because of his antisocial antics which began after he got out of jail and went on a benefits-funded drinking binge.

In the end the thug, who had downed between six and eight litres of white cider, had to be put in a spit hood to stop his unruly behaviour but officers could not handcuff him because of a cast on his arm.

The 49-year-old appeared over videolink from prison at Worcester Crown Court on Friday for sentence after admitting criminal damage, assaulting an emergency worker and breach of a criminal behaviour order.

Swinbourne already has 203 convictions for 297 offences. A criminal behaviour was made on September 12, 2016, in a bid to control him, an order the pest has so far breached 63 times.

The judge who sentenced him said: "Those figures beggar belief."

Jason Aris, prosecuting, said Swinbourne had been 'making a nuisance of himself' in McDonald’s on March 22 this year, was invited to leave but refused.

Swinbourne was heard to say: “Get the police. I will fight them. I’m going to smash the place up!”

During his rampage he knocked over and smashed a protective screen installed to protect both staff and customers from Covid-19 which cost £250 to replace.

“He has thereafter stopped customers entering the store and has become aggressive towards them,” said Mr Aris.

When arrested for being drunk and disorderly, Swinbourne carried on being abusive and had to be taken to the floor before he was escorted to a marked police car.

Mr Aris said: "The defendant then spat in the face of one of the other officers. He had to be restrained against a wall and a spit hood placed on him."

Inside the police car, he began to hit the cage and bang his head. In police interview he told officers he had drunk between six and eight litres of white cider.

One staff member said he felt threatened by Swinbourne and added: "It was clear he did not care about any of us or how we felt."

The shift manager, who had felt sad for Swinbourne because he was 'clearly homeless', added: "If he had got behind the counter, I don't know what he would have done."

The police officer had to attend hospital for a blood test and was worried he might pass on Covid-19 to his family. "I did not deserve to be spat at. I would rather take a punch than experience this disgusting act."

Barry Newton, defending, said Swinbourne was a 'Jekyll and Hyde' when he was drunk but 'amiable' when sober and is 'continuously in and out of custody'. He asked that his client be given credit for his early guilty pleas, telling the court Swinbourne had used his Universal Credit to pay for the drink.

Judge James Burbidge QC described Swinbourne as 'a chronic alcoholic' who had been dependent on alcohol for 'many, many years' and who had been on a 'merry-go-round' of committing antisocial offences, being sent to prison, locked up for weeks or perhaps months before being released again and going 'back on the booze'.

He said: "You went in there drunk out of your mind and were invited to leave. The staff there, under pressure no doubt but working, were at first sympathetic to you, treating you politely, encouraging you to leave. You decided to make a menace of yourself."

Judge Burbidge told Swinbourne that he had spat directly in a police officer's face, describing it 'as a disgusting thing to do at any time but even more so during this pandemic crisis'.

Judge Burbidge jailed him for 20 months. He can expect to serve half of that time in custody and half on licence in the community. Time he has spent on remand awaiting sentence will count towards that.