A father of five's tranquil bingo date night descended into terror when he was assaulted by a man on a rampage in a casino.
On June 11, 2023, Michael Ambrose, 49, and his wife Natalie, 42, from Warrington, were savouring their time at a local casino in the Cockhedge Shopping Centre. The evening had started off splendidly, with Natalie even bagging a win at the bingo, but the atmosphere quickly soured as they went to claim their winnings.
Michael has vividly described the dreadful moment pandemonium broke out, with the sound of shouting and women's screams filling the air. Concerned for his wife's well-being, he went to see what was happening and stumbled upon Constantin Lupo causing destruction among the slot machines armed with a bar stool. The news comes as the UK's 20 most dangerous towns and cities were revealed.
Recounting the ordeal, Michael said, "We were out on a cheeky night out without the kids. My wife won £10 and we'd gone to collect it. While cashing out I heard banging and women screaming and running about. I saw him smashing up the fruit machines so I went over to disarm him and try and hold him until the police arrived."
"I was scared for my wife. He was threatening staff but all I could think about was holding him until the police got there because my wife was there, I didn't want anyone to come into danger, especially my wife.", as reported by the Liverpool Echo.
While grappling with Lupo, Michael sustained a slash from a lock knife. He chillingly recalled the incident: "I could feel fresh air on my neck immediately. I held his wrist so he couldn't let go of the knife."
He commented: "I just wanted to protect everyone else, I had to stop him doing damage to anyone else. He was threatening everyone."
The police arrived promptly and detained Lupo.
Subsequently, Michael required emergency surgery at the hospital. He shared: "The surgeon told me if it had been an inch lower I would have died. I was so lucky. I think that's when the shock of what had happened hit us. It was scary for all the family. It was a crazy date night."
Constantin Lupo, hailing from Fredrick Street, Widnes, was sentenced to eight months in prison on Friday, August 1, following his conviction for criminal damage, inflicting grievous bodily harm, and carrying a bladed article in public at Liverpool Crown Court.
The court heard how on June 11, 2023, the 37 year old caused chaos, resulting in £8,734 worth of damage by destroying five slot machines with a bar stool at a casino in Cockhedge Shopping Centre, Warrington.
Michael added: "The manager of the casino was really nice when I saw him at court, he said if it wasn't for me he thought something really bad would have happened to a member of staff."
The father has shockingly released CCTV footage to the ECHO, showing the moment his attacker used a bar stool to smash up the slot machines at the casino.
In his police interview, Lupo denied the criminal damage charges but confessed to becoming "gotten angry at the slot machines," accusing them of "lying" to him.
Detective Constable Stephan Wolstenholme commented: "Even in light of Constantin Lupo maintaining his innocence throughout the entire investigation and forcing the victim to relive the incident in court all over again, I do hope that today's result offers some reassurance to the victim involved in this unjustified and violent ordeal.
"This could have been a potentially life-threatening situation for the member of the public who had, rightfully, challenged Lupo, who could not handle the result of his afternoon of gambling and caused a substantial amount of damage to several machines he had been using.
"The victim was simply doing all they could to stop Lupo's rampage and did not deserve to be violently attacked. Cheshire Police treats every report of assault with the utmost seriousness, and our officers will do everything they can to get victims the justice they deserve."
