Portsmouth Central Library
Consider this 16-year-old's chances of avoiding Internet infamy flushed down the drain: After playing a prank that resulted in $247,000 worth of repairs and a five-month closure of a public library because of flooded toilets, he wrote about it on Facebook, which led to a public admission of guilt in court.
This crime happened in Portsmouth, UK, where the teen boy confessed to using toilet tissue to fill the plugholes in the third-floor men's toilets of the Portsmouth Central Library and turning on the taps, resulting in an epic flood that began the evening of Aug. 18 and continued until the next day.
The teenager, who was reportedly on the verge of his own flood of tears as he told his story in Portsmouth Magistrates' Court, had apparently tried to protest his innocence at first. But he changed his plea when presented with proof of his vandalism: A transcript of the Facebook comments he made with one of his mates in which he copped to the deed.
TechEye reported his short self-condemnation:
While he had told the cops he had done nothing, he had answered a question on Facebook as to whether he might be guilty. His reply: "Kind of, yeah. I've kept it to myself. A few mates know."
So much for a clean getaway.
The judge took the teen — whose name has not been released because of his age — to task for the crime, for which he will be facing some time behind bars:
District Judge Anthony Callaway said: 'What you have done was a major crime in which considerable damage was done. It resulted in the library being out of action for the period of time we have heard, and all because of your act of vandalism. I accept that you have now belatedly admitted what you did and were previously a young man of good character. Nonetheless, you should understand that the court is now likely to send you to custody.
Another 16-year-old was also charged, but was found not guilty of criminal damage. The local paper, The News, also added in its account of this incident that the pranksters probably would've gotten pinched eventually because they were captured on camera red-handed.
More stories:
- Man sues Facebook for $1
- Sheriff shames perps with 'Mug Shot of the Day' site
- Burglar who posted on victim's Facebook pleads guilty
Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who thinks it is a crime she had to pay a thousand-dollar water bill for a running toilet while she was on vacation.
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