Slioch. Photo: Silvain de Munck
A mountaineer who sparked a Highland rescue operation when he marked the word ‘help’ in snow has been fined by a Scottish court.
Paul Manchester stamped out the message after climbing Slioch with friends in February this year. Concerned residents at Kinlochewe spotted his work and called the emergency services.
Dingwall Sheriff Court heard that a Coastguard helicopter from Stornoway was mobilised and Torridon Mountain Rescue Team went to the area. The cost of the helicopter was said to be £5,000, with the MRT’s callout estimated at £500.
Mr Manchester, of Stalybridge, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to a breach of the peace and was fined £600.
The contrite mountaineer offered a donation of £2,000 to the rescue team, but leader Neil Hinchliffe has suggested he offer it to a hospice instead, as the callout did not incur anything like that amount for the volunteer mountain rescuers.
Mr Manchester’s defence solicitor Craig Wood said his client had no criminal intent in his action. He had no idea it would spark the subsequent events.
A charge of culpable and reckless conduct was dropped when the defendant pleaded guilty to the lesser offence.
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