is the charred remains of Mario Balotelli's bathroom after dozens of fireworks were let off during an infamous 2011 party in his £3million rented mansion.
Pictures
published by MailOnline for the first time today show how the indoor
display started a fire that destroyed rooms in his £7,500-a-month house
in Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire, causing a reported £400,000 of damage.
A
friend of the millionaire footballer set off dozens of fireworks from
'multi-shot barrage cannons' in his first floor bathroom three years
ago, starting a serious blaze.
Despite
the fire he scored twice against rivals Manchester United on the day
after the firework incident and Balotelli revealed a t-shirt with the
cryptic message: 'why always me?'
Chaos: This picture shows where the mansion's bath was and tiles and plaster appear to have been blown off the wall and ceiling
Party:
These are the 'barrage cannons' of fireworks set off in the bathroom,
which wrecked the first floor and started a blaze on the eve a huge game
again Manchester United. Balotelli scored twice and used this t-shirt
to ask: Why always me?
Bathroom
towels were set on fire and the flames spread but Balotelli has
insisted that he did not cause the blaze and that the offending
fireworks were let off by his friends.
New
photographs appear to show how tiles and plaster were blown off the
walls and ceilings, the walls were scorched and covered in soot and how
the landlord had to rip out fittings and start again.
Balotelli's
four-bedroom house, where he no longer lives, suffered severe smoke
damage and the bathroom was gutted in the fire, which needed ten
firefighters with breathing apparatus to put it out.
The
indoor display happened in the early hours on the eve of Manchester
City's top-of-the-table derby clash at Old Trafford in October 2011.
The controversial Italian and his friends escaped unhurt after fleeing the fire at 1am,
Bedroom: Smoke and soot damaged the walls, ceilings and fittings in the mansion in Cheshire's stockbroker belt
Description:
Balotelli said that he had put the fireworks in a bin in the bathroom,
right and left, but left the room and one of his friends lit them
Danger: At the time it was reported
that the Liverpool striker had been asked to pay £400,000 to the
landlord for the damage caused
Trashed:
These picture show the fire damage caused to the bathroom's shower
cubicle and the carpets and walls of neighbouring rooms
Liverpool's
eccentric striker had a rocket from his landlord, who wanted Balotelli,
24, demanded the Italian international pay for the estimated £400,000
repairs himself rather than go through insurance.
Describing
what happened in an interview with Noel Gallagher on the BBC he said:
'I was bored no, so I was with my friends and one of them was limping so
I got one bin you know the bin? For put fireworks inside.
'But
nothing gonna happen right, so I left the room and I left the fireworks
but I didn't I walk out and then my friend go in the room and they just
start screaming blah blah blah and the fireworks was going off and they
put the fireworks on the bed, not on the bed sorry, on the toilet.
'But just the curtain caught on fire, that's it, nothing else. Just the toilet was lost'.
Balotelli
has been the subject of controversy since being in English football,
playing for Manchester City before being sold back to AC Milan. He
returned to the Premier League this summer in a £16million move to
Liverpool.
Having
scored at Old Trafford, Balotelli unveiled a T-shirt which read 'Why
Always Me?' in response to the scrutiny he finds himself under due to
his tendency to prompt negative headlines.
Aftermath: The controversial Italian and his friends escaped unhurt after fleeing the fire at 1am three years ago
Response: Despite the unfortunate incident at home Mario was chosen to front a firework safety campaign days later
Fun house: Star striker Balotelli also
built a racetrack in his back garden for this quad bike, seen after the
fire in his garage. Famously his mother sent him to John Lewis for an
ironing board and he came back with this and a trampoline
Hobbies: Balotelli also had scooters and a motorbike in the house, as well as a remote control car on the shelf
He
was disciplined by the club for throwing darts at a youth team player
in 2010, while he was also pictured trading punches on the training
ground with former team-mate Jerome Boateng. He has paid a total of
£300,000 in club fines.
In April 2011, it was reported Balotelli had spent £10,000 in parking fines and had his sports car impounded 27 times.
Liaison
officials at the club were forced to reclaim the Maserati time and time
again as the player was given an average of three parking tickets a day
since joining the Premier League club.
He once crashed his sports car soon after arriving and it was reported that police found £5,000 in cash in his back pocket.
The striker was reprimanded for throwing darts at the training ground.
No comments:
Post a Comment