A punter who lost €2 on a betting payout went on the rampage with a slegdehammer, smashing up a bookie's office in "several minutes of madness".
John McCormac (56) got a taxi home to collect a sledgehammer when he was barred from the bookmakers after abusing a staff member.
McCormac, of Decies Road in Ballyfermot, Dublin, returned to the Paddy Power shop and smashed 27 television monitors causing €17,835 damage, the Circuit Criminal Court heard yesterday. He escaped jail after pleading guilty to causing criminal damage at the Ballyfermot Road shop, on December 8 2006.
Judge Patrick McCartan said it was "a matter of conscience" for McCormac and his family whether they repaid Paddy Power for the damage caused, and he imposed a one-year suspended sentence.
The bookmaker said yesterday it would not be seeking compensation. Spokesman Ken Robertson said the rampage was the most "violent, ridiculous attack" the bookmakers has ever seen.
"That's the first time we've had someone go berserk," he said. "Occasionally you have a dispute but 99.9pc of the time they are resolved amicably. We respect the decision of the judge and will not be pursuing further costs, nor inviting McCormac around for tea any time soon."
Garda Liam Ahere told prosecuting counsel Kerida Naidoo that McCormac placed a bet on a horse just as the odds changed and discovered he was due €2 less than he thought.
McCormac subsequently verbally abused a female member of staff. She told him that she would not take any more bets and advised him that he was barred from the premises.
Gda Ahere said McCormac took a taxi home to get a sledgehammer and returned with the weapon. Staff pressed a panic alarm, alerting gardai and he dropped the hammer as soon as he was challenged.
Madness
Gda Ahere agreed with defence counsel Paul Greene that McCormac had no previous convictions and had never before come to garda attention.
Mr Greene described the incident as "several minutes of madness" and said his client had a "significant psychiatric background".
McCormac was "a person with an unusually fragile personality" and the incident had been "an overreaction to a perceived slight". He said McCormac had suffered "a very real sanction" in being barred from his only social outlet.
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