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The man who destroyed a newly constructed reception at Travelodge Liverpool using a digger in January, amid an alleged £600 pay dispute, has pled guilty to damaging the property.
John Manley, 35, will be sentenced on 1 November, and the BBC said he pleaded guilty to “damaging property and being reckless as to whether life was endangered”.
The digger crashed through the main entrance of the property destroying the doors, reception desk and windows. Merseyside Police were called to the property at 3pm on 21 January 2019.
Ceiling fixer Samuel White told the BBC at the time that the driver was involved in a pay dispute over £600 with contractors at the hotel.
He said: “The handover was today. Everything completed, we’d put the last tile in, cleaned up and made sure everything was perfect. Then some idiot in a mini digger decided to drive through the middle of the building.
“There were loads of workers outside all gobsmacked, jaws to the floor wondering what’s going on. The site manager was running around like a headless chicken, he wasn’t happy at all.”
Liverpool Edge Lane Travelodge opened four months after the incident, and commenting on the opening at the time, Shakila Ahmed, Travelodge spokesperson, said: “To celebrate the opening of Liverpool Edge Lane Travelodge, our 581st hotel, we are very excited to have created an instagrammable postcard, paying homage to the city’s greatest assets.
“It’s the perfect backdrop to capture the essence of what makes Liverpool so great in just one image. This picture truly is worth a thousand words and the ideal keepsake.”
