A 34-YEAR-OLD woman who was ‘obnoxiously laughing’ during a screening of the Barbie film in Guernsey’s Mallard Cinema has been fined £700 for disorderly behaviour.
Lina Frimate, who pleaded guilty to the charge, attended the cinema on 9 August to watch the blockbuster film with a friend and ‘spoke loudly’ and ‘ignored requests to be quiet’. She was ultimately asked to leave.
Advocate Phoebe Cobb, prosecuting, told Guernsey’s Magistrate’s Court that Frimate became increasingly animated and swore at other patrons, causing people to struggle to hear the film and upsetting ‘younger members of the audience’.
The film was paused and Frimate was asked to leave, which she did after initially refusing.
Police met her outside and found her to be intoxicated.
She later told them at interview that she had not eaten that day, had consumed a large glass of wine, was ‘tipsy’ and in an ‘excitable mood’. She denied swearing.
Duty Advocate Paul Lockwood said it was Frimate’s first court appearance and offered apologies for her actions. She admitted being ‘raucous, excitable, and voluble’, and was ‘embarrassed to ruin other patrons’ day out’, he added.
Judge Gary Perry, sentencing, acknowledged the early guilty plea but criticised the ‘selfish behaviour which this court is seeing all too often’.
He said Frimate needed to take account ‘of the needs of others’ as he handed her a £700 fine as an alternative to 34 days in prison.
