A man claimed he ventured into the Southampton Fairmont kitchens just to get some ice for his Jack Daniels.

Garth Hayward, 40, told Acting Magistrate Juan Wolffe: "I was feeling the high, I was feeling nice, you know.

"I asked the waiter in the hallway if I could get some ice because I had a bottle of Jack Daniels. That's the truth, I was looking for ice for my Jack Daniels."

Hayward, of Devonshire, pleaded guilty to trespass at the hotel on Friday evening. Magistrates' Court heard he entered the hotel grounds despite a previous ban, in the form of a letter dated June 27, 2000, warning him not to enter Fairmont property.

Carrington Mahoney, prosecuting, said yesterday: "At 11.10 p.m. Police officers responded to a report of trespass at the Fairmont Southampton resort.

"They spoke to a security guard and he took them to the kitchen where they saw the defendant.

He was being detained by hotel security staff.

"The man had been found rummaging through the kitchen."

Hayward was taken to Somerset Police Station where he was charged with trespass the next day. He told officers: "I am not saying nothing."

Yesterday at Magistrates' Court, Hayward denied having ever received a letter from the Fairmont group warning him to keep away.

"I never received no letter. I don't recall it," he said. "If I had received it, well, common sense, I wouldn't have gone on a property like that."

The court heard Hayward had previous convictions dating back to 1997, including breaking and entering, but he told the court he was currently employed doing odd jobs.

"I've been keeping out of trouble, I've been keeping my head above water. I'm trying to break the chain," he said.

Mr. Wolffe fined Hayward $500. He told him: "You have to break that chain. I don't want to see you here again."