Customer not McHappy

Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Anna Hanlon said the man grabbed a McDonald’s manager by the throat and held him against a drink machine after the manager told a woman the breakfast menu had ended

The man was “immediately aggressive” when he walked into the Shepparton store on July 5, the court heard.

He pushed another worker out of the way during the incident, Leading Sen Constable Hanlon said.

There were 10 people in the store at the time, including children from three to 10 years old and 15-year-old workers.

The man’s defence counsel said her client showed appalling behaviour, but the offending was a “lapse in judgment” and “out of character” for him.

She said he was upset about the way the manager had spoken to his partner, who was the woman ordering the food, rather than the unavailability of the menu item.

His partner told him her interaction with the manager was unpleasant and aggressive.

She told the court it had been a “stressful few years” for her client, who had left work to become a permanent full-time carer for his partner, and the affray was an “unfortunate breaking point” for him.

He had since sought medical help, has a mental health plan in place and had been prescribed depression and anxiety medication.

Magistrate Simon Zebrowski told the man it sounded like he had “just snapped”, but his behaviour was “disgraceful”.

“These kinds of things are terrifying,” he said.

“Some people suffer all sorts of stress from it.”

The man was placed on an adjourned undertaking to be of good behaviour for 12 months, with the condition he continues to follow the mental health plan from his GP.