Night porter who smashed up hotel in £94,000 rampage to teach ‘bullying’ owners a lesson after claiming they ordered him to charge NHS workers £1 to use lunch plates during Covid won’t have to pay them a penny in compensation
- Edward Woods, 50, went berserk while on duty at Larkfield Priory hotel in Kent
- Smashed 21 windows, six doors, two fridges, oven, table and three beer pumps
- He said he was angry about being ‘bullied’ and his frustration had built up
- Woods was given suspended 16-month jail term and must pay £250 in costs
A night porter who smashed up a hotel in a £94,000 rampage to teach the owners a lesson for allegedly bullying staff won’t have to pay them a penny in compensation.
Edward Woods, 50, smashed up 21 windows, six doors, two fridges, an oven, a breakfast table and three beer pumps while on duty at the Larkfield Priory hotel in Maidstone, Kent, on July 25 last year.
Woods claimed he was warned for refusing to charge NHS workers £1 to use a lunch plate at the height of the Covid pandemic and that it made him angry.
Maidstone Crown Court was told he began the rampage in the early hours of the morning with a metal bracket, destroying computer screens and Covid barriers belonging to the holiday establishment.
Edward Woods (pictured), 50, claimed he was warned for refusing to charge NHS workers £1 to use a lunch plate at the height of the Covid pandemic and that it made him angry
Edward Woods, 50, smashed up 21 windows, six doors, two fridges, an oven, a breakfast table and three beer pumps while on duty at the Larkfield Priory hotel in Maidstone, Kent, on July 25 last year
His 16-month jail term was suspended for 18 months and he must pay £250 in court costs.
Woods, from Maidstone, claimed the outburst came out of sheer frustration over how he and his colleagues were being treated – and says the amount of damage was closer to £44,000 rather than £94,000.
He said after the hearing: ‘I didn’t intend to do it, but it was a build-up of loads of things.
‘I was bullied, we all were, and I just lost it. The way we were treated it would have been someone else if I hadn’t have erupted.
‘I hope it’s taught the owners a lesson.
‘Hopefully they don’t treat people like that again. I don’t want them treating people like they did.
‘I do regret doing it but, hopefully, it has taught them a lesson.’
Woods, from Maidstone, claimed the outburst came out of sheer frustration over how he and his colleagues were being treated – and says the amount of damage was closer to £44,000 rather than £94,000
He said his year-long court ordeal has been ‘stressful and tiring’ and chose to represent himself during barrister strikes rather than have the hearing adjourned.
The venue has closed but Woods, who now works as a groundwork labourer, hopes his outburst has had an effect.
He added: ‘It was a really lenient sentence, and I am grateful.
‘I think the court took into account everything I had said about a build of frustration.’
Woods said his reaction was completely out of character and that he was angry about being forced to do jobs he wasn’t trained for and being warned for refusing to charge NHS workers £1 to use a lunch plate during the height of the pandemic.
He was a live-in night porter at the venue – but says he was asked to cover for other roles and sometimes had to double-up as a chef, none of which he was trained for.
In October last year Woods appeared at Medway Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to criminal damage to property over the value of £5,000, as well as admitting causing £2,500 of damage to a 2021-plate Ford Fiesta belonging to hotel manager Prasanna Kirubakaran.
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