Drunken shame of 'Grim Reaper'

4:19pm Thursday 20th December 2007

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AN EAST Lancashire man's drunken night out ended in bizarre fashion - wearing a Grim Reaper costume he had stolen during a burglary at a town hall.

When the story of Christopher Kelly's escapes were told to magistrates, a probation service officer had to leave the court in fits of laughter.

The court heard that Kelly, 31, of Railway Street, Nelson, had got extremely drunk on lager and vodka during a night out in Morecambe.

Kelly lost his friends, who were celebrating a friend's birthday and were also drunk, and wandered onto the beach where he got stuck in boggy sand and lost his shoes, trousers and jacket.

Cold and wet, he staggered across the road to Morecambe Town Hall where, seeing a window open, he climbed inside.

There he went in various rooms, took a camera and a mobile phone which he tried to use to call his friends.

Then he soiled his underwear which he threw into a black bin bag.

He found a 'Grim Reaper' fancy dress outfit and put this on before leaving the town hall and wandering down Lord Street towards Poulton Square where he eventually arrived at the police station which was, at that time, unmanned.

He stood there for three hours, still in the Grim Reaper gear, until police arrived.

Prosecutor Peter Bardsley told Lancaster Magistrates' Court that some of Kelly's antics in the town hall were captured on CCTV during the incident on October 5.

He said: "He didn't remember why he stole the camera and the phone but remembers taking an item of clothing but not where he found it.

"He was cold and very drunk."

Defending, John Lee said it was a strange case which had caused hilarity but was also serious.

He said: "In interview he made a full and frank admission that he was drunk and entered the town hall as a trespasser.

"This has been the cause of a great deal of embarrassment for him.

"He's remorseful and ashamed of what he's done but has moderated his drinking and doesn't want to end up in a position like that again."

Magistrates agreed that they were very bizarre events and gave Kelly a six-month conditional discharge after he admitted burglary, having entered the town hall as a trespasser.

He was ordered to pay prosecution costs.