Topless lad who trashed £1.3k-a-night Shard hotel room costing owners £150K spared prison
A half-naked West Country Tesco worker who gave a London Shard hotel room a "total and complete trashing" cost the owners just shy of £150,000. Kellar Knight, 23, treated his new girlfriend to a £1,300-a-night stay at the Shangri La Hotel on the 39th floor of the skyscraper in June 2024, but things went horribly wrong after “a couple of drinks”.
When Knight, from Shepton Mallet in Somerset, was spotted shirtless in a corridor on CCTV, hotel security dished out a warning. But Knight ignored the advice and continued on his rampage, damaging a painting on the wall and interfering with a telephone.
When security guards swooped inside his posh room, they were astonished to find it had been completely destroyed, with extensive damage to all the fittings and fixtures, the bathroom, a flat screen TV, and large glass panel costing £28,000 alone.
Police were called and Knight was taken to hospital for a mental health check, appearing drunk and possibly on drugs. Though he made no comment under questioning, he fessed up at Croydon Magistrates on August 27, pleading guilty to criminal damage.
The damage to the room was initially calculated at £50,000, but the hotel owners also included the cost of the room being unavailable while it was fixed, bringing it up to £148,101.29p.
Representing himself at Inner London Crown Court on Wednesday (November 26), Knight argued the cost calculation was excessive because the broken hotel room would not necessarily have been occupied for the whole period.
Callum Cuddeford Court and Crime Reporter