January 25, 2008

Sprinkler prank caused nearly $200,000 damage

Christchurch?s Holy Grail sports bar and its insurers may have have to take civil action to get full payment for nearly $200,000 damage caused when a drunken student set off a sprinkler.

Hayden Niels Nikolaison, 19, has borrowed $5000 from his parents to make some reparation payment and that bank cheque was brought to the Christchurch District Court for his sentencing today.

But two more years of engineering study for the straight-A student lie ahead and he already has a $22,000 student loan.

He did some part time maths tutoring, defence counsel Matthew Martin told Judge Allison Sinclair.

Nikolaison is very remorseful about the night of June 2-3 when he was at the central city sports bar with friends. The bar was packed with rugby fans watching an All Black match on the big screen.

At 1.10am, he went into a first floor corridor leading to the toilets. He wrenched a locked door to the Balcony bar, damaging it, then disabled a security video camera, and then activated a sprinkler which set off the fire alarms.

Patrons had to be quickly cleared out as water poured out, and Judge Sinclair pointed out some could have been injured in the evacuation.

The sprinkler was on for six minutes and during that time it flooded the corridor and flowed down through the gaming lounge beneath, damaging poker machines, video games, carpets, carpentry, and wall linings.

The Holy Grail was shut for two days, and the gaming area was closed for five weeks. The total damage bill was $193,824 and Judge Sinclair said it was not totally covered by insurance.

She referred to the ?absolute stupidity? of the situation Nikolaison now found himself in.

The bar and its insurers might take civil action to recover their losses, she said. ?This situation is going to haunt you for some time. The consequences of your actions are going to reach far beyond the sentence I am going to impose on you today.?

Mr Martin had handed the court a letter from a recruitment consultancy saying that the conviction could mean Nikolaison was unable to get a job in a good, reputable firm of engineers at the end of his studies in two years? time.

Judge Sinclair said the student had a glowing academic record and the ability to go far.

?It is very sad to see you standing there but you have to accept that what you did was extremely foolish and very dangerous, and you have to pay the consequences for that. I hope you can in time put this matter behind you.?

She ordered him to do 200 hours of community work, and pay $5000 reparations.