A FISHERMAN who wanted to hire a car for a job interview became annoyed with staff at a rental firm and flipped over their desks.

Benjamin Birley, 43, who lives in a boat on Whitehaven Marina, had gone to the Enterprise car rental office in Whitehaven on February 8.

Birley entered the cabin and CCTV footage showed he was sat waiting for about 25 minutes. He was ‘unhappy’ about the terms of hiring a vehicle, Workington Magistrates’ Court heard.

Pamela Fee, prosecuting, said the defendant became abusive to the staff before flipping over a desk, causing computers to fall on to the floor. He then flipped a second desk, trapping a member of staff behind it.

Birley had pushed a member of staff after being asked to leave. He walked out and then came back but was prevented from entering the building.

One of the employees at Enterprise said Birley had threatened to ‘put their heads through their noses’.

Another member of staff said Birley had items inside a vehicle and he had gone to collect these with him. He was ‘still swearing at himself’.

Birley hit the car wing mirror but didn’t cause any damage to it. He told the employee that he would ‘hit him if he wasn’t so big and hard’.

The defendant later told police he had paid £108 to hire a car and was asked to provide a payment of £200 which would be refunded if the vehicle was returned in the condition it was picked up in.

He admitted lifting the desks and said they were lighter than he thought they would be.

Mike Woolaghan, defending, said: “I think it’s a really unsavoury incident.

“It seems that for 25 minutes, this gentleman is sitting calmly. It seems to have come out of nowhere – madness for 15 seconds.

“This is a person of previous good character. He has never been before the criminal justice system before.

“He paid for the vehicle upfront, got to the premises. He was annoyed they insisted a damage waiver would have to be on a credit card. He didn’t have one.

“He was hiring a car for a job interview down south. His frustrations got the better of him.

“He has pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. It appears to be entirely out of character.”

A probation officer told the court that Birley remained ‘annoyed’ that he missed the opportunity for work but apologised for the damage and upset caused.

Birley pleaded guilty to criminal damage under £5,000 and using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear of or provoke unlawful violence.

Magistrates fined the defendant £200 and ordered him to pay £85 costs and an £80 victim surcharge.