Two offshore workers have been ordered to pay a total of £8,000 to repair a landmark Aberdeen statue that they damaged after a drunken night out.
Steven Kindness, 26, and Dean Lawrie, 25, appeared at the city’s sheriff court yesterday to be sentenced having previously admitted maliciously damaging the Edward VII statue on the junction of Union Street and Union Terrace Gardens.
The court heard thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused to the monument after Lawrie drunkenly clambered upon it.
In doing so, he broke off two of the granite fingers and part of his staff.
After damaging the council property, the pair then grabbed part of the staff before walking away with it.
Yesterday, Kindness and Lawrie, who were representing themselves, apologised for their drunken mistake and insisted that they never intended to destroy the statue.
The court heard that initially the damage had been estimated to cost around £30,000 to repair.
However, on further inspection, council officials now believe it will cost around £8,000.
Fiscal depute Karen Dow previously said Aberdeen City Council was requesting a compensation order be imposed as a penalty.
Lawrie initially sent a letter into the court which stated he was “truly sorry” for his actions and accepted that he would have to “suffer the consequences” for his reckless behaviour..
However, Sheriff Annella Cowan told Kindness, whose address was given as 6 Auldearn Road, Aberdeen, that he had better start to figure out how they were going to pay for the damage they caused.
When the pair appeared back in the dock yesterday for sentence, Sheriff Cowan said she would admonish the men for their “foolish” and “irresponsible” behaviour.
However, she imposed a compensation order to ensure the statue can be repaired.
Sheriff Cowan ordered Lawrie, whose address was given as 3 Scylla Grove, Cove, and Kindness pay £4,000 each.
The granite sculpture was designed by Alfred Drury and carved by James Philip.