A laughing yob who flooded his flat – and the one below him – told police officers he wanted to make a “slip ‘n’ slide”.
Jamie Wallace, 19, blocked his bath with a latex glove and ripped up the bathroom’s waterproof flooring.
The overflowing water saturated the wooden floor underneath the tiles and formed huge pools in the hallway, quickly dripping through the ceiling of the flat below.
Both flats in the accommodation for vulnerable young people on Urquhart Road had to be vacated because of the extensive water damage.
Fiscal depute Brooklyn Shaw told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that around 5.20pm on September 23 2023, Wallace was seen to enter a communal bathroom at the block.
Sounds of a “disturbance” were then heard and, once Wallace left, staff investigated and found significant damage and mess.
‘Getting lifted for a bit of water’
One of the toilets had been damaged and he had also thrown bleach and Fairy liquid over the floor, bathroom furniture and even the ceiling.
When staff went up to confront Wallace about the damage, they noticed there was a “significant amount of steam” within his flat, as well as the sound of water running and the smell of detergent.
Ms Shaw told the court: “The member of the public who lives below the accused had fresh wet patches on his ceiling that were dripping, indicating a leak coming from the accused’s flat.”
Staff suspected Wallace was deliberately flooding the property but he refused to let them inside and could be heard laughing behind the door.
Police were called and officers gained entry to the flat to find the hallway flooded with “large pools of water”.
Water-resistant floor tiles in the bathroom had been ripped up, exposing wood underneath which appeared soaking and saturated with water.
The plughole in the bath had been blocked with blue latex gloves.
Wallace provided various “inconsistent” explanations to the officers.
First, he told them he had forgotten the bath was running, then he claimed he had slipped and fallen, causing the water to splash out of the bath.
Finally, Wallace said he “wanted to make a slip ‘n’ slide”.
Malicious mischief
He continued to laugh throughout the interaction and asked if he was “getting lifted for a bit of water”.
Due to the flooding, both Wallace and his downstairs neighbour had to be rehoused.
Wallace, whose address was given as Urquhart Road, Aberdeen, pled guilty to a charge of malicious mischief over the matter.
He also admitted separate charges of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, shoplifting, threatening a shop worker, and breaching a bail condition.
Defence agent John Hardie said his client’s behaviour had been “unpleasant and antisocial”.
He explained that Wallace had difficulty understanding the consequences of his actions before he acted.
Dealing with all the cases together, Sheriff Lesley Johnston fined Wallace a total of £1,690.
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