DRUNKEN prankster Richard Parker today hit back at the court which sent him to jail for his antics with a pool ball by condemning it for wasting public money.

DRUNKEN prankster Richard Parker today hit back at the court which sent him to jail for his antics with a pool ball by condemning it for wasting public money.

Parker, who was jailed for 28 days after he took off his clothes and walked through a hotel bar with a pool-table ball wedged between his buttocks, said: “I do feel the sentence was a bit harsh.

“It costs something like £500 a day to keep a prisoner in prison and sending me there was just a waste of money. I didn't hurt anyone or attack anyone. It was just a silly prank that went too far.

“I think a fine would have been acceptable. I went round four times to see the people at the bar because I was quite willing to pay for the damage and be banned from the premises to stop it going to court.”

Parker, of Holland Road, Felixstowe, was given the 28-day prison sentence for causing criminal damage, failing to surrender to custody and breaching a previous conditional discharge by obstructing a police officer.

The 26-year-old builder put the pool ball between his buttocks before carefully dropping it from his behind into a drip tray at the bar, having previously urinated in the pocket of a pool table.

The incident took place at the Flying Boat bar in the Marlborough Hotel in Sea Road, Felixstowe, on January 27.

As well as his prison sentence Parker was also told to pay £260 to the pub to replace the damaged pool table and have the carpet cleaned.

Management at the Flying Boat have also banned him from the bar.

In sentencing Parker to spend time in prison, district judge David Cooper told him: “You have made a complete fool of yourself and it's your second offence since you were released from prison previously - and that release was on the basis you didn't reoffend.”

After his release, Parker said: “Really I just want to apologise for my behaviour that night.

“I had had far too much to drink and I cannot remember anything about what I did. Now I just want to put it behind me and get on with my life again. Going to prison has really interrupted things for me.”

was justified in sending Parker to prison? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk.>