Christopher Foley: Kiwi tourist flooded Gold Coast unit block during argument with sex worker

A Gold Coast unit was flooded after a disagreement between a sex worker and a “frustrated” Kiwi tourist who was in town for GC600.

A KIWI tourist “frustrated” by an adult service he booked triggered a fire alarm and flooded a Broadbeach apartment in a bungled attempt to get the woman to leave.

Christopher Foley, 28, was arrested at 3am on Saturday, bringing a sudden end to his GC600 holiday.

Come 9am, Foley was sitting in the dock in Southport Magistrates Court, wearing a red T-shirt and dark baggy shorts, appearing somewhat worse for wear.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Jack Mulherin told the court Foley met a woman on the sixth floor of Victoria Square Apartments and “engaged in some adult services”.

“At 1.45am, the defendant was observed on CCTV footage in the lift area of level six, where he can be seen to strike the fire sprinkler apparatuses, causing the sprinkler system to activate, flooding the entire common room area and some apartment entries of level six,” he said.

Queensland Police, Queensland Fire and Emergency, and Queensland Ambulance services all responded about five minutes later and “evacuated the building and investigated the cause”.

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The court was told Foley believed the sex worker ”was not as per the description”.

Police checked footage from council CCTV cameras and arrested Foley on Broadbeach’s main drag Surf Parade.

He declined to be interviewed by police, but did reveal “he was a resident of New Zealand visiting the Gold Coast for car racing”.

Duty lawyer Bettina Webb, of Howden Saggers Lawyers, told the court she was instructed the adult services worker “was not as per the description” and “after trying to get his payment back” Foley decided to activate the alarm “to get her to leave”.

Foley “engaged in some very silly behaviour” and his holiday “went severely wrong”, she said.

Ms Webb said Foley, a structural draftsmen, had no criminal history and had been “severely intoxicated”.

Snr Const Mulherin said restitutions for the damage caused could not be calculated overnight.

“It’s caused all three emergency services to be deployed, flooded the common room, all because the defendant was, I assume, intoxicated and frustrated, he said.

Police checked footage from council CCTV cameras and arrested Foley on Broadbeach’s main drag Surf Parade.

Snr Const Mulherin said it would be “at least a couple of weeks to know that figure” and fire services “do charge a significant fee” for false alarms.

Foley, due to board a Jetstar flight home today, pleaded guilty to wilful damage and unlawfully interfering with an apparatus to be used in the event of fire.

Magistrate Catherine Pirie said the damage caused at the apartments was “quite significant” and Foley’s drunkenness was no excuse.

She fined Foley $1500 and warned he would likely be billed for damages and call-out fees.

No conviction was recorded.