Vandal sunk ‘Titanic’ amount of booze before keying cars
Unemployed lout caused almost £5,000 of damage to motors
A drunken vandal caused nearly £ 5,000 worth of damage after scratching a row of cars outside a country pub, a court has heard.
Lout Michael James Milton had consumed a “Titanic” amount of booze after a blazing row with his father before he set about damaging the motors.
The 36-year-old appeared in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court this week, where he was ordered to pay compensation to the owners of the vehicles and carry out unpaid work.
He had previously pleaded guilty to behaving in a wilful or reckless manner by damaging the vehicles in the car park of the Fox and Hounds pub in South Street, Houston, on October 15 last year.
The court was told he had been spoken to in the car park as he was acting suspiciously and appeared to be heavily intoxicated.
He left the scene, but staff began getting calls from customers saying their cars had been damaged while parked at the pub.
The court heard that damage totalled £4,700 and one of the cars involved had been so badly scored that the cost of repairs to it alone was £1, 700.
CCTV footage was viewed and showed to police, and Milton, who was identified as living locally, was traced.
He told officers he had no memory of the incident.
Defence agent Terry Gallanagh said that there had been “a build up of pressure” at home which culminated in “an explosive argument” between his client and his father.
“He ended up consuming a Titanic quantity of alcohol and
This was a very serious incident Sheriff Ireland
is extremely contrite,” said the lawyer.
Milton had been so shocked by events that he had sought professional anger management advice and had also taken steps to address his underlying issues.
He is unemployed, and lives off Working Tax Credits of £ 90 per week.
The lawyer asked for proceedings to be continued for clarification on actual losses incurred by those affected and Sheriff Seith Ireland adjourned matters on Milton, of North Street, Houston, to allow actual losses not recoverable from insurance – or any excesses paid by individuals – to be verified by police.
When he returned to court to learn his fate, it was revealed that all of the damage caused had been covered by insurance, although individual policy holders had been forced to pay excess sums before settlement.
Sheriff Ireland told the accused: “This was a very serious incident involving substantial damage and there is no excuse whatsoever for your behaviour.”
He said it had been only “by a very narrow margin” that he had decided to refrain from sending him to jail and made him the subject of a Community Payback Order requiring him to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work.
Milton was also ordered to pay £2,050 in compensation to cover individual losses incurred.