Dundee hotel guest admits swinging on £50,000 chandelier
- Published
Ross MacPhail swung on the balcony at the Sleeperz hotel in Dundee
A hotel guest has admitted swinging on a £50,000 chandelier 60ft (18m) above the reception area.
Offshore worker Ross MacPhail clambered over a balcony as other guests gathered for breakfast at the Sleeperz Hotel in Dundee on 3 January.
As he swung on the light fitting, he banged glass pendants together to smash them, and shards fell into the foyer.
At Dundee Sheriff Court, he admitted wilfully or recklessly destroying or damaging property.
The hotel initially estimated the chandelier was so badly damaged it would cost £50,000 to replace completely.
But fiscal depute Sarah High told the court the company had been able to repair it and the bill amounted to £7,925.
Sheriff Paul Brown deferred sentence on MacPhail for reports and warned him that he could be sent to prison because of the gravity of the incident.
He told MacPhail, of Carnoustie, to save up the full amount to pay the cost of the damage caused.
"This is a serious matter," Sheriff Brown said. "You have crossed the threshold to custody here. If you turn up and pay the money next time it will have a significant impact on how I deal with it.
"If you don't turn up with the money to pay it, it will have the opposite impact."
The incident happened at the Sleeperz Hotel, next to Dundee rail station
Ms High told the court: "At 08:40 the reception manager arrived for work. They had been made aware of a man who had been in the stairwell breaking the chandelier.
"They went to the fourth floor and observed the accused. He had scaled over the glass balustrade of the balcony and was sitting on it.
"He was swinging on the chandelier and banging the glass particles of the chandelier together. The manager was concerned for the safety of the accused and contacted police.
She said MacPhail was eventually taken back over the glass balustrade by police officers.
"I believe the accused was under some sort of substance at the time," she added. "He was staying in the hotel and had obviously taken something."
Solicitor Jim Laverty, defending, told the court: "His life has now turned around. He had certain mental health and drug issues at the start of the year.
"He has faced this voluntarily and is now employed offshore as a roustabout."
Find more stories about Dundee: