Judge: Amazing man in mall with weapons was not shot

Deputy District Judge Chris Holmes said that confronted “with something out of an American movie,” it was “amazing” that 50-year-old Gregory Wallace had not been shot by the PSNI.

Having heard how a PSNI armed response unit (ARU) was called to Bow Street Mall in Lisburn on Tuesday when staff at Costa Coffee shop were confronted by an armed, shirtless and drunk Wallace, the judge told the court: “I’m amazed at the discretion and professionalism of the police officers in this that he wasn’t shot – it’s amazing and they deserve massive credit for that.”

Due to mental health problems Wallace, from Howard Place in Lisburn, did not appear in court where he faced 10 charges.

He is accused of two counts of possessing or carrying a firearm or imitation in public, two counts of having a bladed article, namely a knife, theft of an £18 bottle of Southern Comfort from Tesco, possessing a handgun with intent to cause fear of violence and carrying a firearm with intent to commit theft.

In addition, Wallace is further charged with possessing a firearm under suspicious circumstances, possessing a loaded firearm while drunk or under the influence of drugs and using a firearm to resist arrest.

During a contested bail application, a police officer outlined to the court how security staff at the mall alerted police when Wallace emerged topless from the toilet and approached staff at Costa Coffee apparently “armed with a knife and a firearm”.

Officers from the ARU found Wallace sitting at a table speaking with a member of the public and when he “reached his arm behind his back as if holding something in his waist band,” he was “brought to the ground by ARU who felt that the members of the public were in immediate danger”.

A knife and loaded air pistol were taken from Wallace and the court heard that he also had a sports bag with him and inside, police found a handgun, a rifle and a smoke grenade.

At the scene Wallace told police he “was a soldier and Covid-19 was his enemy”, and the officer said that during follow-up searches at his home, police seized a further 20 firearms including five handguns and 12 assault rifles. When asked by the judge if the weapons were real or fake, she said they had to be sent for examination but were “possibly air soft weapons”.

Wallace was later found to have sustained a punctured lung and “several broken ribs,” and during police interviews, he admitted he had stolen and drunk the bottle of Southern Comfort having taken “double of his medication” that morning.

Wallace was remanded into custody with an order from the judge that he be psychiatrically assessed on an emergency basis.

The case was adjourned to March 24.