Abattoir worker James Mason went on £4,000 drunken rampage in petrol station

James Mason had been drinking a mix of ‘potent cocktails’ on a night out with friends before he found himself at the BP garage in Nelson at 7am on January 27.

A worker from inside the shop recalls seeing Mason shouting at a taxi driver who was parked on the forecourt, before the frightened man sought refuge inside the shop.

Burnley Magistrates Court then heard how Mason, of Birtwistle Close, Colne, followed him inside before embarking on a rampage.

Prosecuting, Tracy Yates said: “Mr Mason was shouting inside of the shop and at first, he pulled over a display shelf containing cleaning products.

“He then moved over to the counter where he smashed one of the tills, completely breaking it.”

After a while inside the shop, Mason moved back out to the forecourt and sat himself on the bonnet of the taxi.

The shopkeeper locked the store from the inside so that Mason, who had begun throwing bags of logs around outside, couldn’t get back in.

But the abattoir worker managed to break the door down by launching himself at it and, once inside, pulled down another display containing products.

Speaking to a probation officer before sentencing, Mason, who was unrepresented in court, admitted he had been drinking a mix of cocktails on the night.

He also said he had little recollection of the event, only remembering waking up in police cells the next morning.

In a witness statement, the shopkeeper said: “It was very frightening and I can’t remember everything due to the shock. I feared violence for both myself and the taxi driver.”

Mason was arrested at the scene and pleaded guilty to one count of criminal damage and the use of threatening words at court.

As well as the broken till, another was badly damaged and a quantity of stock was unsellable.

He was given an eight-week suspended sentence and ordered to complete 40 hours of unpaid work.

He will also have to pay back the £4,000-worth of damage that he caused to the garage.