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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Adam Everett & Graeme Murray

Drunk Wetherspoons manager barged into woman's hotel room and threw fire extinguishers


A drunk pub manager barged into a woman's hotel room and threw fire extinguishers at guests.

Callum Shepherd kicked in doors as he rampaged through Z Hotel.

But Shepherd, a manager for Wetherspoons, walked free from court after the incident when emergency workers taped off a street in Liverpool city centre.

The 23-year-old had been on a night out with pals, Liverpool Crown Court heard, and continued drinking after he arrived at 3am at the hotel

The Liverpool Echo reported he was described as being "slightly drunk" at this point, but staff "didn't think it was a problem" at the time.

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The 23-year-old had been on a night out with pals, Liverpool Crown Court heard and continued drinking after he arrived at the hotel at 3am (Liverpool Echo)
Callum Shepherd outside Liverpool Crown Court (Liverpool Echo)

He was served with a single shot of whisky, which he drank in the reception area.

The hotel customer ordered another two doubles, which he was told would "be his last".

Shepherd, a shift leader at a Wetherspoons pub in Liverpool city centre, asked if there was anywhere else he could carry on his session.

He was shown to his room after "stumbling around" and having "difficulty holding himself up" but left the hotel shortly afterwards, returning around 10 minutes later.

The postgraduate then set off a fire alarm on the fourth floor, causing around 100 people to be evacuated onto the street.

He then began kicking in the doors of guests' rooms on the upper floors of the building in their absence.

Evacuees heard a crash from above and were "showered" with shards of broken glass after he threw a fire extinguisher from a window on the sixth storey.

It was later discovered he had hurled two further fire extinguishers which had landed on other parts of the building, including one which had become lodged in a skylight

He had also been throwing extinguishers around the hotel hallways.

Around 4.30am, Shepherd forced entry to a female resident's room uninvited as she was going inside.

She shouted at him to "get out" as she was "scared and didn't know the drunken stranger's intentions".

He collapsed onto her bed, and she was forced to drag him back out onto the landing.

Shortly after 5am, the barman damaged a dry riser - equipment used by fire crews in the event of a blaze - by smashing through a glass panel.

Callum Shepherd, a manager for pub chain Wetherspoons, walked free from Liverpool Crown Court (Liverpool Echo)

Firefighters shut the road outside while police searched the hotel for the defendant.

Officers could not find him and left, but were called back to the scene at around 7am after he was spotted by a fellow guest.

Shepherd, from Northumberland, was found on a staircase by hotel staff "obviously very, very drunk" and arrested.

He was "unable to recall what he had been doing" when interviewed by police.

When shown CCTV footage of his frenzy, he was "aghast at his own actions".

The court was played videos and mobile phone footage of Shepherd throwing one of the fire extinguishers out of a window.

Peter Hussey, prosecuting, said: "The drink got the better of him completely.

"It would appear the defendant has absolutely no recollection of his behaviour on that night, other than what he has seen himself do as caught on CCTV.

"Quite evidently, he comes from a good background.

"This is a complete one-off incident, but it was a prolonged incident which affected a large number of people and caused a significant degree of both fear and inconvenience to many of those people - if not all of them."

Simon Christie, defending, told the court: "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."

Shepherd, admitted affray and criminal damage during an earlier hearing and was handed a 20-month imprisonment suspended for two years.

Recorder Eric Lamb said: "I accept that you have no memory whatsoever of your behaviour that night.

"That is brought about entirely as a result of the amount you drank.

"It was more drink than you were able to cope with.

"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."

Of the break-in to the woman's room, the judge said: "That must have been a terrifying experience. Her reaction demonstrated how frightened she was.

"You were very very drunk throughout these events. This was a prolonged, frightening incident for a great many people.

"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."

Shepherd was also told to serve a 120-day alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirement and to pay a victim surcharge.

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