A 30-year-old burglar has been sentenced to one-year imprisonment after he broke into a bar, got drunk and fell asleep before being found by the shop owner.
Before he slept off, Marius Petrikas, also know as Algis Likso, had caused thousands of pounds of damage to the bar in Newcastle, United Kingdom by pulling things off the wall and barricading himself in with beer barrels, Chronicle Live reports.
The owner, already struggling due to the impact of COVID-19, was left with losses of more than £21,000 (N11m).
Petrikas used a metal bar to break into the bar, called City Tavern, in the early hours of August 5 last year.
CCTV shows him helping himself to a drink before he went on a wrecking spree for no apparent reason.
Prosecuting officer, Alec Burns, said:
He was discovered at 6am that morning when the landlord found the door insecure. He could hear snoring so called the police, who attended and found the defendant asleep.
The prosecutor added;
He had wrecked the pub and barricaded himself using beer barrels and furniture. He pulled a camera off the wall, in the cellar he pulled a cooling unit off the wall.
The pub was so badly damaged it could not open until repairs had been carried out.
The owner of the bar, David King said the final loss to the business was £21,450 (N11.2m), adding that;
Covid-19 has had a massive financial impact on us and this burglary has happened at the worse possible time and has put livelihoods at risk. It felt like a last straw that broke the camel’s back.
On his part, Petrikas from Killingworth, North Tyneside, admitted burglary. He was also in breach of a community order imposed for affray, assault and criminal damage worth more than £5,000 in Darlington.On that occasion, he trashed his home after being told to leave by the landlord. He threw furniture out of the window, barricaded himself in and police tasered him six times but it had no effect.
Petrikas eventually jumped out of the window, before running at officers, biting one of them as they arrested him.
He has now been sentenced him to 12 months in jail after the bar rampage.
