Dad damaged Worcester Stands Tall giraffe statue trying to ride it 'like a horse'

Oleksiy Koval went to project manager Sara Matthews the following day to apologise after causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage to the statue near The Hive.

The 37-year-old was out drinking with friends on July 11 – the day of England’s World Cup defeat to Croatia – before coming across the statue.

The 30 fibreglass giraffes have been decorated by artists and placed around the city as part of a St Richard’s Hospice fundraising scheme.

Kerri Lovegrove, prosecuting, said the damage will have a “financial impact on the charity” – which plans to auction off the statues next month.

She said the plinth had been pulled up and damage was done to the underside of the giraffe, which cost £230 to repair – not including costs to touch up the paintwork.

The giraffe had to be removed following the incident, with members of the public left “disappointed”, said the solicitor, speaking before magistrates yesterday.

The court heard that Koval, who lives with his 12-year-old son and mum on Solitaire Avenue, Worcester, claimed he had only drunk one beer on the night in question.

Blaise Shervington, defending, said: “Notwithstanding the effect on the local community, this is clearly a situation where there was high jinx going on which ended with damage to the giraffe.”

He said Ms Matthews appreciated the defendant’s apology and said there was a “lack of intention” to damage the giraffe, adding the “damage was relatively minimal”.

Mr Shervington said his client had recently been sectioned at Newtown Hospital and had only been released earlier this month.

The court heard Koval was also subject to a community order at the time of the offence following a conviction in June, which included unpaid work.

Keith Stoke-Smith, chair of the bench, described the criminal damage as “foolish” and said Koval was “old enough to know better”.

“You say you had one beer and that this one beer put you in this frame of mind?” continued the magistrate.

“That’s concerning that one beer could do that. You should not be having any beer at all if that is the case.

“You came forward and admitted it and admitted your guilt very early. We have taken that into account,” he said.

Koval, who is not working or in receipt of unemployment benefits, but does receive housing benefit, was ordered to pay £300 compensation. He must also pay a £30 fine, £135 court costs and a £30 victim surcharge.

Referring to the £770 the defendant still owes the court, Mr Stoke-Smith said: “That won’t go away. You need to start behaving and if alcohol is a problem you need to stop. Start behaving responsibly.”