A dog breeder who caused £3,500 of damage to his Fife hotel room before being caught with an illegal spray has been admonished by a court after paying the compensation and behaving himself.
Daniel Robertson trashed the room during a drunken rampage at the Holiday Inn Express in Dunfermline’s Halbeath Road on July 30 2023.
Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard he had been there with his wife and his dog, which was to be used in breeding in the area.
After police arrested him, he was found with a German-made product called “dragon pepper spray”, which he had bought on a website for dog breeders.
Robertson’s defence lawyer, Robert Mitchell, told the court his client had bought the spray to keep other dogs away from his valuable Dogue de Bordeaux.
In May last year, Robertson, of Drumillan Hill, Greenock, pled guilty to vandalism and possessing a can of irritant spray, deemed a prohibited weapon under the Firearms Act.
The 37-year-old appeared in the dock this week for sentencing, which had been deferred for him to pay compensation and show good behaviour.
Robertson’s defence lawyer said his client advises he has not touched alcohol since.
Sheriff Susan Duff told Robertson she would take on board what his lawyer has said and the changes he has made to his life, as well as the high financial cost and admonished him.
Prosecutor Amy Robertson told the court previously a guest at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel informed a night porter about “shouting and screaming” in a room at around 1.30am.
When the night porter approached, he was told to “f**k off” by the man who answered the door.
Police arrived to find Robertson in the room with a “large dog,” the fiscal said.
The inside pane of a double-glazed window was broken and the TV was “smashed and upside down on the floor”.
The fiscal depute said: “Foam from a fire extinguisher was sprayed on the ceiling and alcohol was covering almost every surface in the room.
“A skirting board was also ripped from the wall.”
Ms Robertson said the total cost of damage for repair was £3,500.
The fiscal depute said Robertson was severely intoxicated and while in custody, found to be carrying the dragon pepper spray.
Mr Mitchell stressed it was sold openly and it had not occurred to his client it might be an offence to have it.
In relation to the vandalism, the lawyer said Robertson could not explain what happened and that “he was drunk”.
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