Call centre worker snaps and trashes office where he handles calls on children’s app
Owain Houston downed beer and whiskey on his lunch break before violent rampage
A DISNEY worker went on a drunken wrecking spree in his office before attacking colleagues and cops.
Owain Houston, 35, shouted "F*** Disney" as he trashed £15,000 worth of computers.
He downed whiskey and beer on his lunchbreak before rampaging around the office where he was a call centre handler for the DisneyLife app, which streams cartoons for tots.
Houston "exploded" when he was asked to take a call for a colleague, a court heard.
Paul Hewitt, prosecuting, said: "He threw his head-set down shouted out 'F*** Disney' then entered some sort of rage.
“He has walked through the premises smashing up equipment.
"He has taken computer monitors and thrown them causing damage and he has taken whiteboards and thrown those."
DisneyLife staff were "shocked" when he pushed a female colleague and assaulted his manager at Firstsource Solutions centre in Cardiff.
Mr Hewitt added: “He continued shouting out "F*** Disney.
“One colleague tried to calm him down but he continued to walk through the premises smashing up equipment, damaging a wall at one point."
Houston expressed "strong views about Disney as he threw computers around his office”, the court heard.
Storming out of the office Houston kicked a police van and told Pc Gareth Hillier "I'm having a bad day, I've just been sacked."
He then threw a “windmill” of punches at him and Pc Venice Hacker.
Mr Hewitt added: "Pc Hillier was knocked to the floor and became unconscious.
“He was treated for a gash to the head and had three stitches put in it."
Even CS spray was unable to stop his drunken rampage.
He was arrested when back-up arrived.
Houston told them he started his shift at 2pm but during a lunch break he went on a pub crawl downing three pints and two double whiskies.
Mr Hewitt said: "He told police he just exploded.
“When he got outside he describes himself as being out of his mind."
He was thrown in jail ahead of his court date.
Houston pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm, two counts of assault by beating, one count of assaulting a constable in the execution of their duty and one count of criminal damage.
Ruth Smith, defending, said: “He would be able to search for work to pay compensation if he is released.
“Unfortunately his conviction is going to cause him some problems."
Recorder Timothy Brennan QC said he would have jailed Houston if he hadn't already been in custody.
But he handed down a 12 months suspended sentence for the assaults and damage.
He also ordered Houston perform 160 hours of unpaid work and pay £700 compensation for the attack on PC Hillier and £500 for the assault of Pc Hacker.
The DisneyLife app, which launched in the UK last year, streams Disney films, TV shows, and music soundtracks on their mobile devices for £9.99 a month.
Houston, of Coryton, Cardiff, refused to comment at his home after he was released from custody.
Firstsource Solutions - an Indian-owned call centre company with more than 600 staff in Cardiff - have a number of contracts including with Disney.
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