Man threatened to throw acid on former employer after he got the sack from a shop in Telford
A man who threatened to throw acid on his former employer after losing his job has narrowly avoided being sent to jail.
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Shrewsbury Crown Court was told that Luke Doherty also used a racial insult in social media threats on two brothers and their mother after losing his job at a shop in Telford.
Doherty appeared at the court on Monday for sentencing after he had pleaded guilty to two charges of using Instagram to send threats intended to cause distress or anxiety on May 22, 2021 and again on July 22, 2021.
Olivia Appleby, prosecuting, said 33-year-old Doherty's employment at the Lawley Village Drinks Stop was brought to a "tempestuous" end. He then used Instagram and TikTok to send insulting and threatening messages to the owners of the shop.
The messages referred to one of the victims as an 'Indian ****' and contained threats to use acid on a victim's face which would 'melt it in seconds'.
Doherty, of Park Road, in Wigston, Leicestershire, also threatened to use a machete against the wife of one of the brothers if they didn't pay him £2,000 he said he was owed.
Ms Appleby said the threats in messages and posts had caused "anxiety" and "stress" to his victims who had only run the shop for a year and were worried about what might happen when they had to close up at the end of the day.
Ms Appleby told the court that Doherty had three convictions for four offences against his name, including harassment and of assaulting an emergency worker by beating.
