A freezing drunk ripped out the insides of a police cell mattress to keep warm after being arrested in a dispute over a taxi fare.
Alan Gray, 54, was detained outside his home in Rivermead, Fatfield, Washington, after querying the price of his ride.
Gray had been to a funeral and was charged a fiver more than he expected by a firm he had previously used, a court heard.
He was arrested even though his wife and daughter came out and paid the fare in a bid to calm him down on Tuesday, February 23.
And he then vandalised the mattress - costing Northumbria Police £96.50 to replace – at Sunderland’s Southwick police station.
Prosecutor Ansab Shan told magistrates in South Tyneside : “The police have been called after reports that a male was refusing to leave a taxi.
“They describe him as being intoxicated, there seems to be a disagreement about the level of the taxi fare.
“Police have tried to reason with Mr Gray. His wife appeared, and she paid the fare.
“This has resulted in him becoming more aggressive. He was arrested.
“The damage to the mattress speaks for itself. He was in an agitated state.”
Gray, who defended himself, said: “I’d been to a family funeral, and I took a taxi to get back home.
“I’d had a disagreement about the fare. I’ve booked that taxi before for the same journey, and it was £5 more than usual.
“The police tried to get me out of the taxi, I was still talking to the taxi driver.
“The police were trying to reason with me. A van came with three more police officers.
“There was no reasoning with them, I was just manhandled.”
He added: “I asked for a blanket, I was freezing. The damage was me trying to use the mattress to keep warm.
“If I’d been given a blanket, it wouldn’t have happened. I’d like to apologise to the court for wasting its time.”
Gray pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage and being drunk and disorderly.
He was fined £107 for causing criminal damage, with £85 court costs and a £34 victim surcharge, and £96.50 compensation to Northumbria Police.
There was no separate penalty for the drunk and disorderly.
