Chef embroiled in a wage dispute causes £13,000 of damage to employers' pubs and cars in North Wales

A chef locked in a salary dispute with his ex-employers has caused more than £13,000 in damage to their three pubs in North Wales.

According to North Wales Live, the chef, who, due to his "difficult" behaviour in asking for the money he believed he was owed whilst working at the the Saracens Head in Beddgelert pub in 2020, was demoted from head chef to sous-chef, went on what a judge called "a revenge attack," destroying the interiors of the pub and the owners' cars, causing destruction valued around £13,000.

When he failed to reach an agreement about hours worked with his employers, who also own The Royal Goat and The Brondanw Arms, he reportedly threatened to "smash up" the premises, leaving a note to one of the owners reading, "To Valerie. You're a c***," smashing the rear window of her car and scratching the paint with a key.

He then went on what a judge called "a revenge attack" across all three pubs, superglueing doors, spray painting smiley faces on the walls and over the CCTV cameras, opening beer pumps and leaving the water taps on so long that one of the ceiling collapsed.

He broke several of the tills and an Apple computer, and damaged two other owners' cars.

Instead of prison time, the chef was given a 20-month suspended term for the five counts of criminal damages he pleaded guilty to, because the judge deemed that his behaviour has since mitigated his past actions.

The chef has stopped drinking, which has been an ongoing issue of his since he lost his mother as a teenager, has a young son and has moved back to Scotland. 

In his defence, he claimed that the wage dispute was ongoing, but that he had dealt with it in the "wrong way," and that he should have instead gone through "the proper channels."