A charity has been left with a hefty £3,000 repair bill after a semi-naked man fell through their roof.
Gary Kirkham caused havoc at the Royal Voluntary Services (RVS) centre in Hanley during a police stand-off. The RVS had to close for two days as a result, and couldn't serve hot food to those in need.
Kirkham has been handed a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £500 compensation after admitting causing criminal damage. Centre manager Helen Podmore was alerted by Staffordshire Police on November 24 about the bizarre incident, StokeonTrentLive reported.
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For the latest news and updates on wild police stand-offs, click here.
Helen said: "It was a bit of a weird one. The police said to me 'can you come down as we've got a half-naked man on the roof and you are the key-holder'. It was the first night of Winter Wonderland and the sound was really loud so he couldn't hear what police were saying.
"They wanted someone to come in the building to have a look. They couldn't get to him. He was quite erratic on the roof. "He kept pulling off tiles and headbutting them. I went home and got a call about 9pm to say 'can I come down as he's fallen through the roof and into our café area'. Just as I got to the centre he was being taken away in an ambulance."
Helen added: "We had eight holes in the roof and there was damage to three rooflights too. He was pulling that hard that he's pulled off one of the rims so they need repairing too. It has had a massive impact on the centre.
"We had to shut for two days as we didn't know how stable the roof was in the cafe and we have elderly people coming in here. Some of those who come here haven't got family around and they wouldn't see another soul all day if it wasn't for us.
"We've had to pay out for the roof to be repaired and now we're just waiting for somebody to come out and have a look at the skylights."
She continued: "There's still a hole in the ceiling in the café and there's damage to the ceiling due to the rain and dust and dirt getting in. At this time of year we normally do soup and a roll for £1 but we haven't been able to do that."
"The bill has come to over £3,000 already and we had to close totally for two days too and that has had an impact on us financially. We've got to try to find the funding to pay for this now. We are going to set up a JustGiving fundraiser and share it on our Facebook page."
Centre users have been left disgusted by Kirkham's actions, with some left "upset" by the incident. Helen explained: "Some have been upset about it. Normally at this time of year we get quite a few people wanting to hire the centre too but we don't want them walking in and seeing the hole in the ceiling by the servery on the café."
The centre is open for anyone to come in for food or company from 9am to 2.30pm Monday to Friday.
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