A disgruntled employee has been sentenced to 6 months in prison for releasing rats at his workplace

An Irish man was sentenced to prison after releasing two live rats in his former workplace.

A dispute with management was the reported motive for the man's actions.

Employees noticed excrement in the building the following day.

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A 61-year-old man from Ireland has been sentenced to six months in prison for releasing rats in his former workplace, BBC News and The Sun reports. 

John O'Neill brought two live rats to Cork County Council's offices on February 9, where he worked at the time, after an alleged dispute with a manager. Security camera footage captured O'Neill entering the building with an item covered by his jacket and leaving shortly afterward, BBC News added. 

The offices were covered with excrement when O'Neill's coworkers came to work the next day, the publication reports. Pest control subsequently identified the rats as the source. 

The cost of cleaning and the damage caused cost the company €3,000, or around $3,493, according to BBC News.

A dispute with management was the reported motive for O'Neill's actions

O'Neill pleaded guilty to criminally damaging the Cork County Council offices at the Bandon District Court, The Sun reports. 

According to the newspaper, O'Neill told Detective Garda Michael Brosna that a dispute with management was his motive and expressed "genuine" remorse for his actions. 

O'Neill's lawyer Diarmuid O'Shea told the judge that the dispute "built-up" and that he was eventually admitted to hospital due to stress. 

"He has asked me to apologize to his former co-workers admitting this was shocking behavior which he does not understand himself," O'Shea told the judge. 

"He caught the rats and brought them to work. He must have realized this was not a good thing to do," the judge responded. "He had a difficulty with one colleague but his actions impacted on all his colleagues there."

O'Neill worked for the council for 23 years but retired "when this matter came to light at some financial loss to himself," The Sun reports. 

Bandon District Court and Cork County Council did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

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