A drive-thru customer at a McDonald’s threatened to kill an employee after becoming enraged over how long her order was taking.
Hayley Jempson tried to grab the worker through a window booth at the restaurant’s outlet beside the Cameron Toll Shopping Centre in Edinburgh.
The 30-year-old told the woman: “See when you finish work, I’m going to f***ing kill you.”
The terrified staff member pushed a panic button which alerted police.
Jempson assaulted another McDonald’s worker after she stormed to its front entrance during the tirade.
Jempson also threatened to burn down a takeaway she was sacked from and sent text messages to an employee suggesting she had a gun.
She appeared at the city’s sheriff court on Thursday for sentencing after earlier pleading guilty to a raft of charges, including assaults and threatening and abusive behaviour.
Fiscal depute Christine Brownlie said Jempson placed her order at the fast food drive-thru at 2pm on May 8.
Ms Brownlie said Jempson returned on foot “asking where her order was” and became “hostile and aggressive” towards employee Louise Ferguson.
The court heard Jempson leaned towards the Perspex screen and “attempted to grab” Louise who hit a panic button.
Ms Brownlie said another worker, Michael Main, met Jempson as she approached the restaurant’s entrance and was “forcefully pushed in the chest with both hands causing him to stumble back”.
Later the court was told Jempson had been “terminated” from a job at Ozzy’s Takeaway in Prestonpans, East Lothian. Ms Brownlie said Jempson called the business at around 7pm on September 15 last year and made threats to damage it then sent text messages to a worker saying “she would attend the shop with her partner and burn it down”.
Nine days later, the court heard Ozzy’s worker Jennifer Findlay texted Jempson asking for the return of money. After a message suggesting Jempson had been taken into custody by cops, a message she sent back read: “A grass is saying we had a gun and I only told two or three people about that.”
In later messages Jempson wrote, “I’ll be at your door in 15 minutes” and “I don’t take cheek from anyone”, adding: “And I’ll bring a gun.”
After Jempson texted saying she’d “start a war”, Jennifer replied she didn’t want to be threatened.
Jempson retorted: “I’m not threatening you. I’m promising. See you soon.”
In a another charge, Jempson threatened a woman in the city’s Craigmillar area on March 24 after calling her a “f***ing grass” who “phoned the police on me”.
The court heard Jempson also shouted, swore, and threatened violence against an employee at the Lidl supermarket in the city’s Niddrie on February 3 and repeatedly referred to him as a “baldie b*****d”.
Jempson, who now works in a chip shop, further admitted assaulting her partner at the Cameron Toll Shopping Centre on August 6, attempting to strike his head and hitting him on the body.
Defence agent Victoria Good, acting for Jempson, said her client had suffered from “mental health difficulties”.
Sheriff Adrian Fraser sentenced Jempson, of Edinburgh, to 18 months supervision on a community payback order and 72 days home curfew on a tag.
The sheriff deferred sentence on Jempson over the assault on her partner for her to be of good behaviour.
