Mark Swistun was arrested for causing £40,000-worth of damage after staff refused him a drink, but released because he owns building

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A businessman who took a JCB to wreck his own pub after he was refused a drink cannot be charged because he was destroying his own property, police have said.

Mark Swistun, the co-owner of the Royal Oak pub in Penclawdd, Gower, south Wales, was arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage after using a 28-tonne yellow digger to smash through the walls and roof of the pub.

It is understood that no one had made a complaint about the £40,000-worth of damage done to the building.

Swistun, who owns a local fish factory, Penclawdd Shellfish, invested £60,000 in the Royal Oak with his business partner, Colin McDonald, last year.

The pair had only months ago held an opening party for the newly refurbished pub, which was formally opened by Welsh rugby star Roy “Shunto” Thomas.

Drinking at the pub on 26 July, Swistun reportedly became infuriated when bar staff would not serve him a drink after last orders at 11pm.

He returned to the pub at 1am, at the wheel of the JCB, and used the digger to smash through an extension roof and outer wall, leaving an gaping hole in the side of the building. Swistun’s rampage reportedly also flattened outside picnic tables and parasols.

Heather Skipper, 50, the pub’s landlady, who was asleep during the incident, told reporters at the time: “I came down in my pyjamas to see half the pub had been demolished. The JCB had crashed into the pub but there was no sign of anyone.”

No one was injured and mid- and west Wales firefighters confirmed there were no gas or water leaks.

A spokesman for South Wales police said: “A 45-year-old man who was arrested following an incident at the Royal Oak hotel in Penclawdd, Swansea, in July has been released without charge.”

