An Australian man has spent 18 months, and $400,000 in legal fees, fighting his expulsion from a yacht club after he was caught stealing ice from his neighbour’s boat.

Nicholas Tsoukris was entertaining guests on his luxury motor yacht MV Tainui in April 2010 when he told two of his friends to get some more ice from the boat moored next to his.

When a member of the Royal Motor Yacht Club’s board caught them, Tsoukris allegedly said: “Don’t make an arse of yourself, Mick. John Keith has authorised me to go on his boat and we’re just getting ice from the fridge.”

The club’s board later met to vote for the expulsion of Tsoukris, who rejected their decision as unjust because he wasn’t present at the meeting. However, the club told the court that before being kicked out,Tsoukris produced a forged email pretending he had been given permission to take the ice.

Tsoukris spent 18 months and $400,000 fighting the decision, which was eventually upheld by a Supreme Court judge. “To grant the relief sought would aid Mr Tsoukaris to derive advantage from his own wrong,” said Justice McCallum.