A serial binge drinker who snuck into a Broughty Ferry bar before being ejected was told he could not expect the same punishment.
Steven Nicol, 29, of South Street, admitted causing a breach of the peace in the Fort Hotel on July 4 – but a Dundee sheriff pointed out he had committed similar drunken offences every summer for the last three years.
Fiscal depute Trina Sinclair told the court how Nicol had been refused entry for being too drunk at around 11.30pm, but had slipped in through another entrance anyway.
When the door staff became suspicious and found him in the pub they asked him to leave.
The court heard Nicol had resisted and had to be restrained by staff.
Sheriff George Way said the incident was not a one off for Nicol – citing previous convictions for similar drink-fuelled offences in July 2013 and July 2014.
He said: “It’s becoming an annual event.
“You can’t keep committing the same offence and expect to get the same sentence.”
Nicol pled guilty to entering the premises without permission, conducting himself in a disorderly manner, refusing to leave the premises and struggling with staff, committing a breach of the peace.
Representing Nicol, defence solicitor Ross Bennett said: “He has a bit of a drinking problem and he has been seeking assistance in this.”
He added that Nicol had been part of a group who were out that night and he didn’t feel he was behaving badly enough to be refused entry to the club.
Sheriff Way deferred sentence until September 18 for reports.