Drunk pair go on £18k wrecking spree at golf club

Two men went on a drunken wrecking spree at a golf club in Walsall, leaving behind thousands of pounds worth of damage and a golf buggy submerged in a lake, a court was told.

Andrew Geary, aged 26, and Richard White, 22, both of Pleck, left a trail of destruction at Calderfields Golf Club by driving around golf buggies and damaging the course, trees and railings, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard yesterday. They caused £18,000 worth of damage.

The pair were found asleep in one of the cabins at the club by a member of staff who noticed one of the windows had been smashed on October 12 last year.

Police were called and they were arrested at the site, off Aldridge Road.

Miss Sharon Bahia, prosecuting, said: "A golf buggy was submerged in a lake. Two further golf buggies on the course were damaged."

Miss Bahia said the pair, both of Dora Street, admitted they had been drinking and White said he consumed eight cans of lager, a quantity of cider, shots and had taken cocaine.

Both men, who said they had little recollection of the events, admitted criminal damage. Mr Jonathan Veas-ey-Pugh, representing Geary, told the court he had been frank in his interview and the business had been compensated through insurance.

Mr Brij Choudhury, representing White, said: "The events of the night in question were fuelled by alcohol and also by the usage of cocaine. It is of course drunken, foolish behaviour."

Judge Martin Walsh, handed them both a 36 week prison sentences, suspended for 18 months, with a supervision requirement, a three-month curfew from 7pm-7am daily, 180 hours unpaid work and told them to pay £300 costs.

White, who also admitted threatening to damage his estranged girlfriend's property on February 4, while on bail for the other offence, was given an additional six-week jail term, suspended for 18 months, and 20 hours unpaid work, to run consecutively.