Apprentice plumber charged after flooding hotel toilets

Spencer Russell Petti, 21, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court in Victoria on Monday to two counts of causing damage and one count of failing to appear on bail.

Petti was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond and ordered to pay $800 to a court fund as well as $545 compensation.

The court heard that at 9.50pm on May 19 last year Petti was at the Cally Hotel, he went to a men's toilet, dismantled the U-bend of a urinal trough, causing liquid to go onto the floor and he threw the U-bend over a temporary fence.

The publican found 25mm of liquid on the toilet floor, called plumbers and the damage costs $454 to repair.

The offender was identified on security camera footage.

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At about 9pm on July 30, 2021, Petti went to the home of someone he knew.

The victims were at home watching TV, when a car pulled up and Petti yelled out abuse.

Garden ornaments in the front yard were destroyed and bin tipped out, causing $100 damage.

Petti was again identified on CCTV footage.

Petti also failed to attend the Warrnambool police station, which was a condition of his bail.

The court heard Petti was born and raised in Port Fairy, he was the youngest of five siblings and now an apprentice plumber.

A lawyer said the offending was committed while Petti was intoxicated, he had behaved in a foolish and reckless manner, but that he had learnt his lesson and would not make the same mistakes in future.

Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge said it was extraordinary someone drunk or sober would presume it's funny to disconnect a urinal and cause a toilet to flood, given the financial cost involved and the hygiene issues.

He said Petti was an apprentice plumber so his behaviour was all the more bizarre.

He said he'd been told by Petti's defence counsel that it was out of character but he had also done something similar 12 months previously.

"Hear me loud and clear, it is completely unacceptable," he said.