Kesh Police this week issued an appeal to the public for information about an hotel guest who registered at the Lough Erne Hotel, Kesh under a false name, booked into one of the hotel's self-catering apartments opposite, on the Crevenish Road, and proceeded to vandalise it, before leaving the next morning without paying.
A PSNI spokesman said the man left the hotel on Monday, August 5th, after causing a considerable amount of damage to electrical appliances in the self-catering flat: "The name he had provided proved to be false. He is described as being about 5ft 10 inches tall and of a medium build. He had black, spiky hair and spoke with a local accent."
Samantha Jobb, the daughter of the owner of the Lough Erne, who is the hotel manageress, told the 'Herald' that the extent of the damage was discovered by a member of staff when the man ('we think there were two of them') didn't check out.
"I was off that Monday, but I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what had been done to the apartment. There were lumps taken out of the walls, the lights were pulled out of the wall and the television set, the kettle, the toaster and the microwave were smashed. He'd even torn the curtains off the rails".
Ms Jobb confirmed that residents in the three other apartments in the lock did complain about the noise, but not until the following morning.
"Probably, if they had complained at the time we would have gone over and caught them at it, but it's not the residents' fault. The apartment was fully booked, so we had to get it cleaned up for the next guests and I had to go out and buy a new television, microwave, kettle and toaster along with new lights and new curtains".
Ms Jobb also confirmed that the vandal had not given a deposit and that, from now on, the hotel would be insisting on a deposit.
"What overcame him? I really don't know. You really don't know what could overcome anybody to do that. I know the two were drunk, but I don't think drink is an excuse to carry on like that. I mean, we can all often have a drink and never carry on like that".
Ironically, having repainted the vandalised apartment to bring it back into shape, Ms Jobb said the hotel would now be repainting the other three apartments to bring them up to the standard of the first one.
As for the cost of the damage and the unpaid accommodation bill, she described it as, 'a substantial amount'.
Meanwhile, the PSNI have appealed to anyone who saw the man at the hotel and recognised the description given above to contact local police with any information at 0845 600 8000, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
