A CUSTOMER who stabbed a McDonald’s worker during an argument about a stolen meal has been jailed for more than five years.
Amarpreet Padda attacked chef Joseph Barlow as he tried to detain Padda’s girlfriend Remi Curtis who had tried to snatch a bag of food from a delivery driver.
She was recorded on CCTV urging Padda to kill the victim as he used a knife to stab him repeatedly. He was seriously injured but the blows missed his vital organs.
The pair fled the shop on foot but were tracked down by police dog Enzo to Curtis’s home nearby.
Padda was described as a dangerous offender after the judge heard he had a long record of violence and had also strangled a woman to the point of unconsciousness during an attack on a train at Dawlish Warren railway station.
He had previously appeared in an episode of the fly-on-the-wall documentary series Call the Cops in which he was filmed resisting arrest violently.
Curtis had also been involved in a previous attack in which she broke into a friend’s house and attacked his father, who was a complete stranger to her, with a hammer.
The pair went to McDonalds at the Bridge Retail Park in Torquay on October 23 last year where Curtis grabbed a bag of food which had been passed over the counter to a delivery driver.
Two members of staff intervened and Mr Barlow was trying to detain Curtis when Padda pulled out a knife stabbed him.
Padda, 42, of Torquay, admitted strangulation and assaulting an emergency worker during the incident at Dawlish Warren station and wounding with intent and affray at McDonalds.
Curtis, 29, of Tricorn Close, Torquay, admitted theft and affray at McDonalds and grievous bodily harm; possession of a hammer at the earlier attack in Exeter, and handling stolen goods.
Padda was jailed for five years and three months with a two and a half year extended licence and Curtis was jailed for a total of two years and one month by Judge James Adkin at Exeter Crown Court.
He told Padda: ‘The probation report assessed you as very high risk of further violent offending and causing serious harm to the public. The factors make worrying reading.
‘You have no empathy with the victim and raised your voice and tried to talk over the probation officer; and that’s when you were stone cold sober. Using violence is part of your day-to-day existence and you are clearly dangerous.’
He told Curtis she had also been assessed as being high risk.
Mr Nick Lewin, prosecuting, said both defendants were on bail for previous offences at the time. Padda had attacked a woman after an argument during a day out in Dawlish Warren on July 20, 2022.
She had got onto a train to try to get away from him and locked herself in a toilet until she thought he had gone. He hid in a luggage area, attacked her as she came out, throttling her until she thought she was going to die. He attacked a police officer who arrested him.
Curtis went into a house in Exeter on February 2, 2022 armed with a hammer and attacked the occupant with a claw hammer, hitting him repeatedly and leaving him with serious arm injuries.
He had a pre-existing heart condition and later suffered an angina attack. He had never met Curtis before and was attacked as he tried to get her out of his home. She went on to handle goods stolen in a burglary.
Miss Francesca Whebell, for Padda, said he over-reacted because he thought Curtis was being attacked and falsely accused of theft at McDonalds.
Mr William Parkhill, for Curtis, said all the offences took place during an unstable time in her life after her children were taken away from her. She has made great progress while in custody.
Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Inspector Jen Rose said: ‘This was an extremely violent incident where a number of people sustained injuries.
‘I’d like to commend the McDonald’s staff and members of the public who intervened and assisted at and locked the store to protect further people.
‘This behaviour is absolutely not tolerated and we will take robust action about those who seek to create violence and behave in this manner in our communities.’