A RECRUITMENT consultant who turned nasty during a champagne-fuelled bender in a trendy Soho restaurant has escaped jail "by a whisker".

A court heard how 24-year-old Rupinder Singh, of Bromley, became violent after he realised he could not pay for an "exorbitant" drinking spree with two pals in the Titanic Restaurant.

The trio ran up a £900 tab as they sank bottle after bottle of champagne, after beginning the evening on vodka cocktails.

December 21, 2001 16:00