Man who threatened to burn down café jailed

A man who threatened to burn down a café and stab several customers inside with a screwdriver has been jailed.

Terrance Maughan, 40, appeared at Chester Crown Court on Wednesday 27th August, where he was sentenced to 39 months imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to threatening a person with an offensive weapon, affray and criminal damage.

He also pleaded guilty to breaching a Serious Violence Reduction Order and his prison license.

Alongside his custodial sentence, Maughan, of Harlech Court, Ellesmere Port, has been handed a five-year Criminal Behaviour Order that bans him from entering Chester city centre and Ellesmere Port town centre.

The court heard that on Tuesday 25th February, Maughan had attended a café on Whitby Road, Ellesmere Port and had later been asked to leave by a woman also in the premises due to him being intoxicated.

In response to being asked to leave, he hit the woman on the hand and threatened to punch her and burn her alive.

Another man came to her aid and attempted to assist her in removing Maughn from the café, to which Maughn responded by punching him in the chest. He would also threaten to burn him alive on two separate occasions, and escalating his threats further by saying he would go on to burn the café itself down.

Despite this, Maughan was successfully removed from the building.

However, this was not the end of the case, as he would return a short time later, brandishing a screwdriver and attempting to stab the man who had removed him earlier.

The man defended himself, and Maughan left the scene after using the screwdriver to cause several hundred pounds' worth of damage to a nearby car. He would be located on CCTV a short time later, with officers finding the same screwdriver on his person upon his arrest.

It had been uncovered that Terrance Maughan had only been released from prison just five days earlier and was subject to both a prison license and Serious Violence Reduction Order, with the latter being breached by failing to provide police with his personal details following his release.

In his interview with officers, Maughn denied any wrongdoing and claimed he had been attacked in the café by the customers and that he used the screwdriver found on his person to open tins and bottles as he struggled to do so otherwise. He claimed that the damage he had caused to the car was the result of someone reversing into it.

During this interview, Maughn became angry and punched a nearby bin, damaging it. He would be further arrested for criminal damage, to which he responded that he did not care that he had damaged it.

Following his sentencing, Detective Constable Richard Willding-Jones, said:

“It took only five days for Terrance Maughn to return to a life of crime after being released from prison on 20 February 2025. During that time, he not only breached two crime prevention orders imposed against him, but he also attempted to seriously injure two people with a screwdriver and caused substantial damage to a member of the public’s vehicle and even a bin during his interview with officers.

“For that reason, I am glad to see the sentence handed to Maughn today, and I do hope that it provides his victims with a sense of reassurance and comfort that their attacker will be behind bars for the foreseeable future – hopefully contemplating his actions.

“Alongside being handed a three-year-plus custodial sentence, we have also taken active steps to deter any future reoffending when he completes his sentence and leaves prison through the obtaining of a Criminal Behaviour Order that bans him from both the centres of Ellesmere Port and Chester until the year 2030.”

Pictured - Terrance Maughan of Harlech Court in Ellesmere Port.