A STRATTON man has been banned from the nation’s bookies after putting a steel chair through a gaming machine in a fit of rage caused by his losses.

Tyrone O’Neill, 26, of Swindon Road, was sentenced on two criminal damage charges and a community order breach at Swindon Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

He received a six-month community order, including an eight-week, electronically monitored curfew from 7pm until 7am, seven days a week.

The community order includes a restriction on O’Neill entering any licensed betting premises in the land.

He must also pay £505 in compensation to the bookmakers, £85 in costs, £65 to install the curfew monitoring equipment and a £60 victim surcharge.

The court heard an account of O’Neill’s mounting frustration in the Bridge Street branch of Paddy Power on August 16 last year, when he began playing on a gaming machine in the shop.

“After 10 minutes CCTV shows Mr O’Neill becoming increasingly agitated,” said Keith Ballinger, prosecuting.

“He is seen rocking one of the gaming machines, before lifting a steel-framed stool and smashing the base into the glass of the machine, breaking it, before leaving.”

Mr Ballinger said O’Neill was angry because of the money he had lost while playing on the machine.

The court heard of a second offence, again relating to criminal damage in a Swindon bookmakers, but this time in Betfred, in Devizes Road.

On December 9 O’Neill entered with another man and they began to play on the fruit machines at the outlet.

Each of the men proceeded to lose money to the machines and O’Neill became angry.

The second man left, after asking to borrow money from the defendant.

“He (O’Neill) continued to play and lose money. He proceeds to bang the start button, shouting at the machine,” said Mr Ballinger.

“He’s becoming frustrated, shouting, swearing and the manager warns him to stop.

“There is a brief verbal exchange.

“He continues to lose his money and rips the Perspex from the betting slip holder on the wall, leaving it on the floor.

“He pulls a water dispenser on a table on to the floor too.”

In mitigation, Gordon Hotson said: “He has had a problem with gambling. He took steps to ban himself from all betting shops and also began attending Gamblers Anonymous.

“He is taking reasonable and sensible steps for a problem he acknowledges he might have.”

Mr Hotson said his client requested magistrates impose a ban on him entering bookmakers.

O’Neill pleaded guilty to the two criminal damage charges and an unrelated community order breach at the earliest opportunity, on February 25.