Subcontractor: stick one on me and I'll stick this on you

What might you do when you are boiling over with anger and hovering close to bankruptcy because you’ve not been paid by the main contractor you’ve been working for?

Well Paul Young, a flooring specialist with four employees, took revenge on the Lincolnshire construction group who stalled on paying him by turning up at their headquarters, carrying a drum of quick-drying industrial sealant, then pouring stickiness all over computers and office furniture.

Young’s action landed him in court, but Judge Michael Heath allowed him to walk free, without paying compensation. The judge said that Young had acted out of ‘understandable frustration’.

The Daily Mail’s report of the story explains that Young was sub-contracted by Geraghty Construction to lay a concrete floor for a new Tesco depot last summer.

Young’s invoice had been submitted but thee was still no sign of payment by late November. Finally, when a cheque for £30,000 did arrive it was valueless as it bounced.

And that’s when Young snapped.

He went round to Geraghty’s office in Grantham and started to pour out the contents of a five-gallon drum containing the quick-drying industrial sealant.

Despite an office worker’s attempts to halt the action, Young kept at it until the drum was well and truly empty.

All this happened on 29 November last year, with the details emerging recently in the courtroom.

Young was said to have been made almost bankrupt, with his mortgage in arrears. Then, to compound the onslaught, a VAT bill dropped on his mat demanding £10,000.

Rather than repay the £24,000 cost of the damage, the judge ordered Young to do 300 hours of community work.

Young said that Geraghty had been paid by Tesco for the work, but were unwilling to pay him, even though he had employees to pay and other bills to meet.