Vindictive tiler smashed over €3,000 of his work over unpaid €200

A tile layer has admitted to destroying his own work when he wasn’t paid the full amount due on time.

Ghanian Abraham Kwabena Donyinah, 39, from Marsascala has been ordered to pay €3,020 to his former client within six months and handed an 18-month suspended sentence.

Donyinah, a tile layer, had been engaged to lay tiles at a property in Sliema and had been paid in instalments, but after the person who engaged his services failed to pay the last instalment of around €200, Donyinah smashed the lot.

Inspector Jonathan Ransley arraigned the man before magistrate Doreen Clarke this morning, charging him with wilfully causing over €3,000 worth of damage to the tiles he had laid. Lawyer Fransina Abela, legal aid to the accused, entered a guilty plea.

In the dock, the accused fell to his knees, sobbing, “It was not my fault.” He spent the next few minutes sobbing quietly after being told to calm down by the court.

In view of his admission, Magistrate Doreen Clarke sentenced the man to 18 months in prison suspended for two years, ordering him to pay the injured party €3,020 within six months. A protection order in favour of the victim was also issued.

After the implications of the sentence were explained to him, Donyinah sank to his knees and made the sign of the cross.