Irish teenager rescued from air vent after trying to sneak back into Australian nightclub

An Irish teenager had to be rescued from an air vent after he got stuck in the tiny space trying to sneak into an Australian nightclub. Hugh McMahon, 18, has been forced to payAU $2,600 (£1,400, $2,150) in fines and damages after having to be freed from a roof near the SinCity night club in Surfers Paradise.



McMahon was trying to get into the popular night spot after being kicked out of the club twice that night, the first time after he was spotted sleeping on a couch inside. Mr McMahon, in Australia on a 12-month working holiday, broke into the roof space through a sliding door at the Promenade Apartments on Orchid Ave. His plan was foiled however when he became stuck. He damaged the door's lock in his failed entry bid before becoming entangled in wires and stuck among the pipes and internal struts in the cavity.

Emergency crews were called to the club at 1.30am with reports the man could be heard screaming for help. The delicate operation to remove him safely took two hours while club-goers crowded the street to watch. He faced Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning charged with trespass, wilful damage and two counts of refusing to leave a licensed premises.



Magistrate Ron Kilner failed to see the funny side to McMahon's antics, fining him $900 and ordering him to pay a total of $1,700 in damages to the building owners and the Queensland Fire Service. "Drunk or sober, it was an absolutely remarkably stupid thing to have done," Mr Kilner said. "You only have yourself to blame." McMahon, who plans to return to Sydney on Thursday, has been given three months to pay his fine.

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