A Coleraine man who trashed a hotel room while high on a cocktail of drink and drugs was handed a three month jail sentence on Wednesday.
Craigavon County Appeal Court heard how police were called to the Premier Inn in Lisburn at 6.15am on July 18 last year after staff heard “banging and shouting” in one of the rooms.
When police arrived, they discovered that 29-year-old Steven McCormack had barricaded himself into the room and he was swinging a long piece of wood against the walls.
Eventually, police were able to get in and arrest McCormack but even as he as sat in the back of the police car, he was kicking at the centre console from between the front seats as the officers drove him to hospital because he was so intoxicated.
A prosecuting lawyer outlined that while the actual physical damage to the room had cost £4,324 once materials had been bought and installed, the hotel estimated they had lost a further £5,103 in lost earnings as they were unable to sell the room to potential guests.
McCormack, from Lisnablagh Road in Coleraine, had entered guilty pleas to two counts of criminal damage relating to the room and the police car as well as a charge of possessing Class C drug diazepam.
The court heard those tablets were uncovered by police after they arrested McCormack and defence counsel Aaron Thompson revealed that the defendant had been “so out of it” he had to spend three days in hospital after the incident.
When the case was dealt with at Lisburn Magistrates Court earlier this year, McCormack was handed a six month prison sentence but lodged the appeal on Wednesday.
His lawyer urged the judge to take a different tact and to suspend the sentence to allow McCormack time to prove he can stay out of trouble.
Judge Patrick Lynch KC said however “this would have been an horrific experience for the unfortunate staff” so clearly, given the amount of damage and the serious of the offence “the custodial threshold has been passed.”
Varying the sentence from six to three months, the judge told McCormack “that’s the best I can do.”