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Tuesday, 18 September 2007, 14:22 GMT 15:22 UK

Fine for festival Spiderman stunt

Duncan Binnie on top of the gantry A student who dressed up as Spiderman and scaled a 30ft speaker gantry at T in the Park has been fined £150.

Duncan Binnie pleaded guilty to a breach of the peace at the music festival near Kinross in July.

Main stage headline act Snow Patrol tried to talk down the 25-year-old from Edinburgh during the stunt, which was witnessed by thousands of revellers.

During an appearance at Perth Sheriff Court, Binnie admitted causing fear and alarm to members of the public.

The court heard he waved to the crowd from the top of the fragile speaker rig as band members appealed for him to climb down to safety.

Fake superhero

Fiscal depute John Malpass told Perth Sheriff Court Binnie's weight could have caused the structure to topple over.

He said: "The police were concerned for his safety and for the safety of other patrons in the arena.

"After being coaxed he climbed down. Police took possession of the Spiderman mask."

After dropping a second charge of giving police a false name, Mr Malpass added: "It's a good job he never gave the name Peter Parker as that would have really confused the issue."

Images of Binnie's climb up the tower have been viewed more than 20,000 times on YouTube.

"He borrowed the mask from someone nearby and thought 'I could climb up there'"
Alison McKay
Defence solicitor


Snow Patrol singer Gary Lightbody can be heard urging Binnie to come down as the fake superhero was pelted with bottles by booing spectators.

Defence solicitor Alison McKay told the court Binnie had graduated and secured a job which he was about to start in a fortnight.

She said: "This was something that seemed like a good idea at the time.

"It was a prank. He was looking at the gantry. He had been drinking but was not drunk.

"He borrowed the mask from someone nearby and thought 'I could climb up there'. It didn't occur to him the trouble he would find himself in."

Binnie, from Leith in Edinburgh, initially appeared at the court after spending a night in police custody following the 8 July incident.

He admitted conducting himself in a disorderly manner by climbing the speaker gantry to the alarm and annoyance of others.



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Related to this story:
Locals back under-fire festival (17 Aug 07 |  Tayside and Central )
Mud chaos prompts festival review (16 Aug 07 |  Tayside and Central )
Apology for festival traffic jams (31 Jul 07 |  Tayside and Central )
Fans slam T in the Park 'farce' (09 Jul 07 |  Tayside and Central )
Sun shines on mud-bath festival (07 Jul 07 |  Tayside and Central )
Traffic chaos hits T in the Park (06 Jul 07 |  Scotland )
Revellers urged to be 'vigilant' (03 Jul 07 |  Scotland )
Festival anger over rail strike (25 Jun 07 |  Scotland )

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