Woman sets fire to McDonald’s and steals teen’s phone

A Swansea woman set fire to a table in McDonald’s, stole a teenager’s phone, and assaulted police in a chaotic incident that has left a young victim too frightened to return to the city centre.

Leah Hocking, 39, of no fixed abode, entered the Swansea city centre McDonald’s on 4 March this year and went to the upstairs seating area, where her behaviour became “erratic and abusive”. When staff asked her to leave and she refused, police were called.

Swansea Crown Court heard that Hocking threatened to burn the restaurant down before using a cigarette lighter to set fire to paper napkins and other items on her table. She was seen spitting at the walls and shouting and swearing at staff who tackled the table-top fire with wet towels.

As other customers moved away, Hocking approached a group of youngsters and told them they should be “bothered by me” before grabbing a phone belonging to a 16-year-old boy. When the teenager demanded his phone back, Hocking began swinging a carrier bag at him. He picked up a chair to keep distance between them, prompting Hocking to also pick up a chair and swing it around.

When police arrived, Hocking struggled with officers and kicked out. She was restrained and arrested, and the teenager’s phone was retrieved and returned to him.

The teenage victim told the court in an impact statement that even before the incident he had “not been a fan” of going to the city centre because of people under the influence of drink or drugs on the streets and their “unpredictable behaviour”. He said he was now even more wary of going into the city, especially alone, and that he no longer felt able to go to McDonald’s which was something he had done regularly and which he always regarded as a treat.

In her interview, Hocking said she had “not been in the right mind” at the time of the incident, and she thanked the police for taking her to a place of safety, saying it was what she needed.

Hocking had also pleaded guilty to criminal damage committed the same morning at Basekamp coffee shop in the city centre, where she blocked the doorway, “ranted” at staff when asked to move, and then spat on the door.

Defence barrister Amelia Pike told the court that until 2023 her client had been in work and living a law-abiding life with no convictions to her name. She said the defendant’s offending since that point was linked to substance misuse, a decline in her mental health, and “associating with the wrong people”.

Pike said that since being held on remand the defendant “has come on in leaps and bounds” and is now medicated, has completed courses in English, maths, and art, and has an offer of employment in a café in Gorseinon. She said Hocking was “deeply remorseful and embarrassed” for the way she had acted on the day in question.

Judge Catherine Richards said that “people of all ages” had been impacted by Hocking’s actions in McDonald’s, and said it was an aggravating feature that the offences had been committed whilst she was on licence or post-release supervision.

With discounts for her guilty pleas, Hocking was sentenced to six months in prison. Given the length of time she had been on remand, her release is likely to be imminent.