Drunk, naked elderly couple fined after luxury hotel rampage

The couple went on their drunken rampage in MacDonald Kinlock Rannoch Hotel in Perthshire.
The couple went on their drunken rampage in MacDonald Kinlock Rannoch Hotel in Perthshire. Photo credit: Google Maps

An elderly couple has been fined after getting drunk and trashing a luxury hotel in the Scottish Highlands.

The pensioners ran through the Perthshire hotel naked with scissors, threatening to kill staff and guests.

The incident occurred in February but the couple, 72-year old Robert Fergus and 69-year-old Ruth Fergus, were charged over the weekend and fined almost NZ$9000.

Mr Fergus was also ordered to pay almost NZ$1500 in damages to the hotel.

The pair had been drinking all day at the hotel when, in the middle of the night, Mrs Fergus woke her husband to complain that staff had been hostile towards her.

Mr Fergus then ran naked into the hotel reception, smashed a glass pane and slashed communications cables while Mrs Fergus threatened to "get a gun and shoot" a staff member.

Staff were so frightened they fled more than three kilometres on foot to the nearest village.

The couple then returned to their room to pack before driving off and waving down a passing police car to accuse staff of attacking them.

When Mr Fergus was found to be driving on twice the legal alcohol limit, he told officers he didn't have a choice.

"I had no intention of driving but I was forced to. Our lives were in danger from hotel staff."

He was arrested after police watched the hotel CCTV footage.

The state prosecutor argued "Both accused were acting as if they were out of control."

Mr Fergus' lawyer admitted his client had reacted "disproportionately."

The lawyer representing Mrs Fergus said her client hadn't eaten much during the day, so "reacted badly" to the alcohol.

Newshub.