A guest has admitted trashing a £50,000 chandelier by clambering over a balcony and swinging on it 60 feet above the hotel reception area. Offshore worker Ross MacPhail carried out the bizarre death-defying stunt as guests were gathering for breakfast at the Sleeperz Hotel in Dundee.
The roustabout swung on the elaborate chandelier for several minutes and was still swinging on it four floors up when police arrived to talk him down. He deliberately banged several of the glass pendants together to smash them and shards of glass fell into the public foyer as horrified guests watched on.
Dundee Sheriff Court was told that the hotel initially estimated that the chandelier was so badly damaged that it would cost £50,000 to replace completely. But fiscal depute Sarah High told the court that the company had been able to repair the original chandelier and the bill amounted to almost £8,000.
