'Mad punter' smashes up bookies for £1.50 betting loss
Tuesday 4th March 2008
While losing a bit of money on a gamble can be annoying, one punter took things to extremes when he lost out on £1.50 on a horse racing bet.
On being told that he would receive £1.50 less than he had anticipated when the horse that he backed won, John McCormac smashed up his local bookmakers using a sledgehammer.
It emerges that Mr McCormac placed a bet on a horse just as the odds changed, which meant that he was due less money than he had thought, the Irish Independent reports.
But when a female member of staff at a Paddy Power shop in Dublin advised him of this, he became verbally abusive.
After she told him that he was barred from the premises, the 56-year-old man took a taxi home and returned with a sledgehammer.
He managed to smash up 27 television monitors before the local police arrived and challenged him.
Mr McCormac was given a one-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to causing criminal damage and was told it was down to his conscience if he repaid the bookies for the damage.
Paddy Power spokesman, Ken Robertson, told the newspaper: "That's the first time we've had someone go berserk. Occasionally you have a dispute but 99.9 per cent 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," he added.
While losing a bit of money on a gamble can be annoying, one punter took things to extremes when he lost out on £1.50 on a horse racing bet.