Pensioner went on nude rampage in hotel as wife threatened to shoot staff
A PAIR of ‘out of control’ pensioners left a trail of chaos during a naked drunken rampage at a hotel.
Staff were so scared of the crazed couple that they ran two miles to safety in the nearest village in the middle of the night.
robert Fergus, 72, was completely naked as he ran amok with a pair of scissors at the Macdonald Loch rannoch Hotel.
Meanwhile his 69-year-old wife ruth, who was sporting just a nightie, threatened to gun down staff members after ‘reacting badly’ to the alcohol the couple had consumed.
After using the scissors to cut through the hotel’s internet and phone cables, Fergus and his wife fled from the hotel in their £65,000 BMW, before being caught by police.
retired chartered surveyor Mr Fergus sat shame-faced in the dock at perth Sheriff Court as the couple were described as being ‘out of control’ during the bizarre episode.
He admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner with a pair of scissors, while threatening violence towards Scott and Marcelene Glen, Tomasz Baraonnski and Julia Titkova. He also admitted wilfully destroying property and causing damage to servers by cutting cables.
Fergus, of Troon, Ayrshire, was fined £2,750 and ordered to pay the hotel £800 to cover the cost of the damage he caused on February 4. He was also banned from driving for a year.
Mrs Fergus, who was not present, was fined £1,350 for causing fear or alarm at the hotel by threatening guests and staff with violence.
Fiscal depute Michael Sweeney told the court: ‘They were resident in the hotel and were seen to be intoxicated at 5pm. At 1.45am Scott Glen was woken by banging on his hotel room door. He saw ruth Fergus in the hallway. He noticed she was intoxicated and appeared confused.
‘She began shouting “are you being f****** funny?” Mr Glen went to reception to tell staff and at that point Mr Fergus appeared with no clothes on and began hurling foul-mouthed abuse.
‘Both accused were acting as if they were out of control. He was observed to have a pair of scissors. Mrs Fergus said: “i’m going to get a gun and shoot you” at [staff member] Miss Titkova ... They saw Mr Fergus pick up a sign and smash a glass pane in the door.’ Fergus then stormed through the foyer telling witnesses he would ‘slit’ and ‘kill’ them. Staff and guests ran from the hotel towards the village of Kinloch rannoch in Highland perthshire.
Almost two hours later, the couple were pulled over by police and Mr Fergus was found to be twice the legal drink drive limit.
Fergus told police the couple’s ‘lives were in danger from hotel staff’, but CCTV footage clearly showed the unprovoked rampage. His solicitor Ewan Cameron told the court: ‘This was a thoroughly unfortunate and undoubtedly terrifying series of events.
‘[Fergus] consumed much more alcohol than was sensible. He retired to bed but was roused by his wife who said she had been on the receiving end of hostility from hotel staff.
‘He reacted disproportionately by going to reception to confront them. His memory is somewhat hazy. He was responsible, in a fit of pique, for vandalising the property ... [He] realises he must make amends for the wrongdoing he inflicted.’
Mr Cameron said his client, who is a school charity fundraiser, had suffered a heart attack in 2007 and would not be able to exert himself for unpaid community work. However, he conceded that his client had ‘exerted himself’ on the night of the incident.
Solicitor pauline Cullerton, for Mrs Fergus, said her client had a hiatus hernia and had reacted badly to the alcohol because she had eaten little during the day.
Sheriff Gillian Wade said to Fergus: ‘i have no doubt you will regret it for the rest of your life.’
Fergus refused to comment as he left court.