A man who throttled his neighbour on a communal staircase in Old Swan before throwing a pan of warm oil over a police officer has been jailed for 32 months. Michael Williams, 45, formerly of Baden Road, admitted intentional strangulation and affray at Liverpool Crown Court.
The court heard Williams had been living at the flats on Baden Road for around a year prior to the incident on 14 February 2024. At around 1pm, his downstairs neighbour Joanne McGreavy heard a lot of noise coming from his property and knocked on his door to complain, but received no answer.
Attack on neighbour
Prosecutor Gaby McGrath described how the victim returned upstairs a short time later but instead found Williams coming downstairs towards her, holding a hammer in his right hand and using it to hit walls and doors as he passed. Having looked angry, he grabbed her by the throat and pushed her to the ground, leaving her lying on her back on the stairs with him kneeling over her.
Williams placed one hand around Ms McGreavy's throat and began strangling her while still holding the implement in his other hand. She was left terrified, thinking she would die and gasping for air, with the assault persisting for around 20 seconds before her attacker jumped up and ran off.
Police called and oil thrown
Ms McGreavy returned home and called police, who arrived around half an hour later. When officers attended Williams' flat, he refused to leave or open the door, having barricaded himself inside. His front door eventually had to be cut open, at which stage the irate and paranoid occupant began throwing missiles at them.
He subsequently approached a police constable who entered the apartment holding a black saucepan, the contents of which were thrown over the emergency worker. Warm oil was strewn over the officer's face, chest and legs but ultimately caused no injury. Reinforcements entered wearing riot gear and carrying shields, with body worn camera footage capturing Williams threatening to scald their faces off and threatening to kill the officers.
Mental health and sentencing
Charles Lander, defending, told the court his client suffered from schizophrenia and had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act on a number of occasions in the interim, including immediately after the assault, and had been remanded into custody since November 2025.
He added: "He was hoping to go and live with his mother, but his mother has relayed that she will not have him. She is still in contact with her son but, understandably, she thinks it is sensible that he does not return to her home."
Sentencing, Judge Gary Woodhall said: "You were making a great deal of noise inside your flat. Joanne McGreavy lived below you. Eventually, having had enough, she attended your flat in order to tell you to keep the noise down.
"She returned a short while later and, on this occasion, encountered you coming down the communal staircase carrying a hammer which you were using to hit walls and doors. For no reason at all, you grabbed her to the throat and pushed her to the floor. You placed your hand around her throat, strangling her while still holding the hammer.
"She was understandably terrified, thinking that she was about to die. This offending effectively occurred in the communal extension of her home. She describes how what you did exacerbated her ongoing issues with anxiety. She has problems leaving her home, problems sleeping, no longer feels safe in her home and has pain relief for back pain from being pushed to the floor.
"Police attended your flat. You barricaded yourself inside. The police had to cut open your door. You threw missiles at them and were described as extremely irate and paranoid. You approached an officer with a pan of warm oil. You threw the contents at his face, chest and legs. Thankfully, he sustained no injuries. Eventually, officers wearing riot gear had to enter and arrested you.
"The fact of the period you have spent on remand and the package of intervention work that the probation officer has identified are tempting features to seek to persuade me to suspend this term of imprisonment. There is also strong personal mitigation in the form of your mental health difficulties.
"That said, this is not a sentence that will impact others. I am not sure that there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation. Any suggestion of a realistic prospect of rehabilitation is undermined by the fact that you are of no fixed abode, and your release into the community will, therefore, be fraught with difficulties.
"These are, ultimately, serious offences. You pose a high risk of harm. Balancing all of these features, I have concluded that appropriate punishment in this case can only be achieved by immediate imprisonment."
Williams, appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, was jailed for 32 months and handed a restraining order banning him from contacting Ms McGreavy for seven years.
