Man living in tent stole charity box from leisure centre
Fire extinguishers thrown into swimming pool
A man who sneaked into Maidstone Leisure Centre before throwing two fire extinguishers into the swimming pool and stealing a charity box has avoided a prison sentence.
Sofa-surfing Antony Quinnell attempted to recreate happier memories from his childhood when he made his way into the popular attraction and caused more than £2,000 of damage.
The 24-year-old, of Thatch Barn Road, Headcorn, tried setting off the fire extinguishers in the café until he got so frustrated he launched them into the pool.
Magistrates described Quinnell’s actions on December 30, 2016, as the “lowest of the low” when he took a charity tin containing £15.
Prosecuting at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Julie Fairbrass told the court Quinnell entered the leisure centre through a fire exit.
She said CCTV caught him causing damage – and drinking from a cup that was then forensically examined.
Quinnell, a former fire sprinkler installer, is now unemployed but magistrates heard he is now eager to turn his life around now he had been given a roof over his head by his father.
He had slept in a tent in a park and struggled with drink and drugs when he raided The Mote Park leisure centre.
Jeremy Betts, defending, said: “The most serious part of this is the fact he took the charity box. He tells me he is thoroughly ashamed of that. He didn’t have any money and thought that was the only way he could survive.”
Quinnell was sentenced to 180 days in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and 40 hours rehabilitation.
He was also sentenced for a separate offence of criminal damage after he admitted smashing the rear window of a Land Rover during a family event in September.
Quinnell pleaded guilty to one other count of criminal damage and another of burglary.
Chairman of the bench Alan Golding ordered Quinnell to pay £2,070 to the leisure centre, £80 to the car owner and £15 to Maidstone Rotary Club.
Mr Golding said: “This is a disgusting offence. You stole the charity box and that was the lowest of the low.”
‘He didn’t have any money and thought that was the only way he could survive’