Drunk wedding dress maker broke into shop and destroyed EIGHTY gowns by slashing them with scissors and spraying them with gold paint during £63,000 wrecking spree

Christine Arnold, 53, also smashed computers and pictures with a hammer

She had broken into the Wedding Barn, Warks, after a pay row with boss

As the police arrived to arrest her she yelled: 'No-one f***** with me'

Dress maker was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for two years

Vandalism: Christine Arnold, pictured at her home destroyed 80 bridal gowns with gold paint and scissors in a row over pay

A wedding dress maker has been spared jail despite going on a drunken rampage where she destroyed 80 bridal gowns with gold paint and scissors.



Christine Arnold also used a hammer to smash computers and pictures at the business, causing more than £63,000 of damage in a row over pay.

When the police arrived she yelled at them: 'No-one f***** with me'.

The 53-year-old had arrived at the Wedding Barn in Ufton, near Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire on December 27 last year and smashed her way through its locked wooden gates.



Once inside, she used a hammer to destroy computers, photo frames, a mirror and furniture at the shop.



Arnold, who had also gone armed with a can of spray paint and a pair of scissors, then sprayed dozens of wedding dresses with gold paint before ripping them to shreds.

She pleaded guilty to a charge of causing criminal damage but walked free from Warwick Crown Court yesterday.



Arnold, from Kenilworth, was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for two years with 12 months supervision.



Sentencing Arnold, Recorder John Taylor told her: 'This was a horrific incident. One only has to look at the photographs to see that.



'You had some dispute with John Stott [the wedding shop owner], but that was no excuse for your behaviour.



'You stoked yourself up with alcohol and you drove there and caused horrific damage, absolutely trashing it.



'You created mayhem and caused a considerable amount of distress.



'You richly deserve to go to prison, but I'm not going to send you to prison immediately.



'You need to face up to this [alcohol] problem and address it.'



Prosecutor Kathryn Roughton said the Wedding Barn is a company where Arnold worked for some time last year.

Police were called to the shop by the company's chauffeur - who said Arnold was at the premises and was smashing it up.

By the time officers arrived, Arnold had left in her car but officers found her at a friend's house.



As she was arrested Arnold told officers: 'They've been f****** my head.'

Attack: Arnold had smashed her way into the Wedding Barn in Ufton, Warwickshire, before destroying as much as she could before the police arrived

Prestigious: The Wedding Barn is one of the area's main bridal gown stores, but its stock was destroyed in a spree the judge called a 'trashing'

The court heard Arnold had worked at the shop with her sister for about six months and claimed she had never been paid because she did not have a formal contract.



Arnold even admitted that she had left home intending to carry out the damage and had sprayed 80 or 90 wedding dresses.



The court heard Arnold caused £63,268 worth of damage.

Mayhem: Christine Arnold was told by the judge: 'You stoked yourself up with alcohol and caused horrific damage' by slashing and spray-painting wedding dresses (file picture)

Arnold, who also had a job working in the financial services industry, had no previous convictions.



Amy Jacobs, defending, said: 'Altogether they [the circumstances of the case] paint a sorry picture of a woman in crisis.



'But she has been engaging with the Recovery Partnership and is getting her drinking under control.'

