A Wetherspoons manager who forced his way into a bewildered woman's hotel room and collapsed on her bed has been spared jail.
Callum Shepherd, a shift leader at one of the pub chain's branches in Liverpool's city centre, embarked on a drunken rampage that saw him volley fire extinguishers from a sixth-floor window at Z Hotel onto the adjacent street. He was also responsible for setting off a fire alarm during the frenzy, which took place in the early hours of the morning, forcing 100 guests to evacuate.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how the 23-year-old is now studying for his masters after achieving a first in biochemistry from Liverpool John Moores University while hoping to begin a PHD later this year. Shepherd was described as coming from a "good background" and having no previous convictions, the Liverpool Echo reports.
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He was handed a 20-month prison sentence suspended for two years after admitting affray and criminal damage. Simon Christie, defending Shepherd, said: "The defendant sitting in the dock today nearly a year after this incident is horrified at what he did, as are his parents.
"If he could, he would apologise to every single person he inconvenienced that night - in particular the woman whose bedroom he encroached upon. This whole exercise has been a source of enormous embarrassment and shame to him.
"He will not appear in the crown courts again and has the making of a very valuable member of the community." Peter Hussey, prosecuting, told the court how Shepherd, of Cramlington, Northumberland, had been on a night out with friends before he continued drinking at the hotel at around 3am on September 14 last year.
While he was described as being "slightly drunk" at this point, staff "didn't think it was a problem". In the reception area, he drank a single shot of whisky that was served to him. After this, he ordered two doubles and was told it would "be his last".
Despite this, Shepherd asked the server if he could carry his session on somewhere else. He was then shown to his room after "stumbling around" and having "difficulty holding himself up" but left the hotel regardless before returning approximately 10 minutes later.
He then proceeded to set off a fire alarm on the fourth floor, causing 100 people to be evacuated onto the street, following this he began kicking in the doors of guests' rooms on the upper floors of the building while they were absent. Soon after, evacuees heard a crash from above and were "showered" with shards of broken glass after Shepherd threw a fire extinguisher from a sixth-storey window, the court heard.
At around 4.30am, Shepherd forced his way into a female resident's room as she was going inside. She shouted at him to "get out" and was "scared and didn't know the drunken stranger's intentions". He collapsed onto her bed where she was forced to drag him back out onto the landing.
At around 5am, the barman damaged a dry riser by smashing through a glass panel. Firefighters were forced to shut the road outside while police searched the hotel for the defendant. While officers could not initially find him, they were called back to the scene at around 7am after a fellow guest spotted him.
Shepherd was arrested and interviewed in the evening of the same day - he was "unable to recall what he had been doing". Upon being shown CCTV footage of his own actions, he was described as being "aghast at his own actions".
Sentencing, Recorder Eric Lamb said: "The actions that you were carrying out are incomprehensible to anybody in a sober condition, but in your drunken condition you chose to behave in a way that caused huge inconvenience and fear to the occupants of that hotel. From your scientific background, you can anticipate the sort of impact a fire extinguisher could have had if it made contact with any of the hotel occupants below.
"You are of positive good character and you have demonstrated what I accept is genuine remorse. You have demonstrated a willingness to rehabilitate yourself and to start being a successful member of society."
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