Drunken stupor costs Frenchman $350,000
Tim Clarke
July 16, 2015, 12:45 am
Drunken stupor costs Frenchman $350,000 Quentin Cuchet leaves court. Picture: Michael Wilson
A drunken prank by a French tourist to turn on a fire hydrant in a St Georges Terrace apartment block has cost the teenager nearly $350,000 in compensation.
Quentin Cuchet, 19, was visiting a friend on the sixth floor of the Condor Towers in April and ended up so drunk that when he entered the lift he forgot to press a button and stood there for several minutes.
After CCTV filmed him kicking out and then punching a series of buttons, he prised open the lift door and decided to turn on a nearby fire hydrant, Perth Magistrate’s Court was told.
As water gushed through the upmarket serviced apartment building, Cuchet tried to turn off the hydrant but instead increased the flow.
He then panicked and ran.
The water ran down the building’s stairwell and escalators, through wall cavities to the floors below and eventually caused part of the ceiling near the staircase on the ground floor to collapse. The ensuing flood also tripped out the building's power supply and caused extensive damage to floorboards and carpets in several units.
The damage bill was estimated at $345,174, which Magistrate Andrew Maughan ordered Cuchet must pay.
“This is a drunken prank gone wrong and while that is explanation for what you did, it does not provide an excuse,” he said.
“You might well expect a phone call from the insurance company chasing that money.”
Lawyer Shane Adam said Cuchet, who pleaded guilty to criminal damage, earns $21 an hour at his job at a local Chinese restaurant and his actions “were as much a mystery to him as anyone else”. “He did something immensely stupid, and could not believe the consequences,” Mr Adam said.
Cuchet was placed on a six-month community order and has to perform 90 hours of community service.
