A man who scaled a 13-storey car park blindfolded has been spared jail.
YouTube video-maker Robbie Borthwick donned the blindfold and scaled the multi-storey car park at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary on January 28.
He admitted a breach of the peace charge at a previous hearing and was yesterday given 100 hours of unpaid work at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
The 22-year-old said the feat was a Bird Box Challenge – a craze linked to a hit film which saw people trying to carry out various tasks and activities while blindfolded.
Borthwick was not wearing a safety harness during the “freeclimbing” stunt.
A video of the terrifying act was uploaded on to YouTube and shows the Aberdeen skyline from a camera strapped to Borthwick’s head.
ARI staff noticed him climbing up the car park and raised the alarm – but Borthwick ran off.
However, police traced him later.
After the previous hearing on November 13 Borthwick said his days of freeclimbing were over. He told The Evening Express: “There’s too much risk behind it. It’s not worth doing it any more.
“I’d rather move on from this point and stop making such a nuisance of myself and causing fear and alarm to everybody else. It’s quite selfish to be honest.
“I’ve got bigger and better things to be doing in my life rather than scaling up buildings.”
During sentencing yesterday, Sheriff Ian Wallace told the 22-year-old: “It is obvious the behaviour you engaged in was stupid and risky – not just for yourself but others.
“But it is clear from this report that you are capable of engaging with this process.”
Borthwick, of Hartington Road in Aberdeen, was given four months to complete the court-ordered hours.
He said the tragedy of his mother’s death had pushed him to take up the reckless behaviour – but then he discovered “a love for it”.
On the steps of the sheriff court afterwards, Borthwick said his stuntman days were behind him.
He said: “When I lost my job, that’s when it clicked this wasn’t worth it.
“This could potentially ruin any chance of a career for me. I would rather stop it now before it gets any worse.
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“I was getting fined.
“I have just been given community service. There are a lot of things making it no longer worth it.”
Painting himself as a reformed character, Borthwick pledged to build a life for himself away from his thrill-seeking antics.
He added: “I want try and get a serious career behind me. I want to go and do exciting things like travelling, there are better things to do than scale up stuff.
“I’m not entirely sure what I want to do. I want to get a trade under my belt.
“Something – as long as it’s not climbing.”
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