Height of stupidity
Reckless urban climber fined again for scaling 239ft crane in city centre
A THRILL-SEEKER who was slammed in court for scaling The Kelpies has been fined again – for climbing a sky-high 239ft crane.
Dylan Fraser was caught along with pal Brandon Nobre sitting on top of the horse-head sculptures in 2020.
The 24-year-old, from Carluke in Lanarkshire, pled guilty to breach of the peace and apologised at the time for his “reckless” antics. He was fined £200 over the stunt.
However, the brazen daredevil showed he hadn’t learned his lesson as he filmed himself scaling a huge crane on Glasgow’s Argyle Street on May 1.
GoPro footage shows Fraser jumping over a perimeter wall and in the video he says: “I went in to Glasgow to climb a crane on Old Firm day. This is how it went.”
The free climber then pans to the ground level of the site which is in early stages of construction and surrounded by building materials.
The non-destructive testing technician, who does not appear to be wearing any safety equipment, then starts climbing a ladder until he is looking out across the city and buildings below.
Fraser then stops to take his gloves off and says: “I’m going without these gloves, it’s grippier.”
At this point, a security alarm goes off and Fraser says: “Oh no, that’s the police coming down this way.”
He is then shown perched at the top of the crane – the tallest point of the machinery which reaches up to 239ft.
A Police Scotland van is shown heading towards the building site. The clip ends with a voiceover note saying: “I got arrested, charged with breach of the peace and received a £40 fine.” Fraser shared the video on social media last week and captioned it: “POV – crane climb on Old Firm day.” The clip has already been viewed more than 300,000 times and received 15,000 likes. In excess of 200 comments were left, with many surprised at the leniency of the punishment. One poster said: “To be honest, £40 is a bargain.” Fraser replied: “Better than dealing with the fiscal. I got let off light tbh.”
But another viewer of the video wrote: “My nephew died about five years ago in Edinburgh climbing and jumping off some scaffolding. Absolute madness.”
Fraser and Nobre appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court in 2020 after footage of them climbing The Kelpies went viral. Sheriff Derek Livingston told the pair: “It was, literally speaking, reckless. It was plain stupid.”
On the recent incident, a police spokesman said: “A man was arrested for a breach of the peace after allegedly climbing a crane on Hutchison Street, Glasgow at about 8.35pm on Sunday, May 1. He was issued with a fixed penalty notice.”