The ACT Supreme Court has found a man guilty of causing $550,000 worth of property damage to a Canberra office building after drinking a fair chunk of his motel room’s minibar.
Chief Justice Helen Murrell ruled that although the man appeared to experience a psychotic episode as the result of drinking the alcohol, a lack of evidence that he suffered a chronic psychotic condition meant he was still liable for the damage:
“Unfortunately for the accused, he cannot argue that his behaviour was involuntary because, to the extent that his conduct was involuntary, it was the product of self-induced intoxication.”
Kevin Pahl was on a work trip in Queanbeyan in 2015 when he began drinking due to stress, despite having avoided alcohol for two years under the belief that it made him “manic“. Over the course of two hours, he drank four full-strength beers and two full 700mL bottles of wine (roughly $10,000 worth in minibar dollars – those things are fucking expensive).
After becoming concerned that he was being chased, he drove his Toyota Hilux ute into a parking ticket machine at the Canberra Airport carpark, where it became subsequently wedged.
He then fled on foot into an office building in Brindabella Business Park and turned on four fire hydrants hoping to catch the attention of someone that could help him, after which he hid under a desk as the hydrants did the bulk of the $550,000 worth of damage.
Police found him underneath the desk and took him to the ACT Watch House before removing him to hospital after he complained of chest pains. He then became agitated on the trip to the hospital, saying “I fucked up, I fucked up“.
He was charged with trespassing and three counts of reckless property damage and blew 0.154 in a blood-alcohol test.
His sentencing will take place later this month.
Source: Canberra Times.
