Poured water on work colleagues’ laptops and put clothes down toilet
BELIEVING that work colleagues were picking on him, a man poured water over two laptop computers and pushed clothes down a toilet.
Caileb Richardson, 21, who appeared in the Magistrate’s Court from custody and who was living at Maison de Carteret, Route de Carteret, Castel, at the time, admitted two counts of causing criminal damage.
The court heard that the property was multi-occupancy hotel staff accommodation.
Five days after Richardson moved in, a woman confronted him about his untidiness.
In the early hours of 3 August a man who was living in the staff accommodation unit had to tell him twice to be quiet.
The man and the woman both left for work at about 8.30am that day.
When they returned at about 2.30pm they found their laptops and extension leads were soaking wet.
The woman’s clothes had been taken from the top of a tumble dryer and pushed down the toilet.
When arrested, Richardson admitted the offences.
He said he was being victimised at work and he had raised this with the head chef but without success.
Advocate Liam Roffey said his client had co-operated fully with police and been particularly candid with the Probation Service about his personal history and mental health issues.
He had come to Guernsey to work for a trial which had not been successful.
He had been in the trade for five years and commercial kitchens in his client’s words could be hot and hostile places.
He had drank a bottle of vodka prior to causing the damage.
The only matter on his record was an unrelated one that had resulted in a caution in the UK.
Judge Graeme McKerrell said the defendant needed to get on top of his drinking and there was a link between drink and the offences committed.
When people lived in close proximity to one another tensions could rise and when they did, it had to be dealt with in an appropriate way.
The sentence imposed would have been longer had it not been for the 22 days Richardson had already spent on remand.
A sentence of 28 days prison suspended for 18 months was imposed concurrent for each offence.
Richardson must pay £1,020 compensation to the man for damaging what was an almost new computer and £369 to the woman for wrecking her machine.
