A DRUNK who smashed every window of an Oxford pub has been told he must pay for the damage and tackle his alcoholism, or face a jail sentence.

Mark Cordell, of Canal Street, Oxford, appeared at Oxford Crown Court today to be sentenced for causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to the Old Bookbinders in Jericho.

The 55-year old took a baseball bat and smashed all of the Victor Street pub’s ground floor windows at about 1.30am on Boxing Day.

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Landlord Josh Mullett-Sadones said that all of the 24 window panes had been shattered.

At the hearing yesterday it was revealed that as a result the pub had suffered about £15,000 in losses.

Oxford Mail:

The sign left by the pub managers after the attack.

Prosecutor Jonathan Stone said that £5,900 of damage was caused directly from the smashed windows, while a further £5,000 resulted from the pub’s three-day closure and £4,000 from a dip in trade.

Cordell’s defence barrister Kellie Enever blamed the incident on her client’s alcoholism and urged the court to consider a non custodial sentence to address it.

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Sentencing, Recorder Rhona Campbell called the incident a ‘vindictive and unpleasant attack’ and said that the offence deserved a jail term.

However, she decided to give Cordell a chance to prove himself and deferred sentencing for four months.

She ordered that by June 28, when he will come back to court, he must find £5,900 for compensation and undertake ‘practical reflection, investigation and engagement’ to tackle his alcoholism.