Man jailed for demolishing home

12 April 2012

A man who demolished his landlord's bungalow with a digger after a row over money has been given a six year jail term.

Robert Taylor, 53, of Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex, thought he had been "ripped off" and "completely lost it", Chelmsford Crown Court was told.

Taylor admitted destroying the property in Bradwell in June and being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

He also admitted destroying two cars, destroying a police car and assaulting a policeman, and it is estimated that he caused more than £300,000 worth of damage.

Pc Martyn Leggett, 24, who was assaulted as he climbed on to the digger to try to stop Taylor, said afterwards: "I have never seen anything like it in my life."

Taylor hired the digger and stopped to buy a sandwich and newspaper as he drove it to the bungalow where James Harvard, 52, and Janice Gledhill, 57, lived.

Ms Gledhill saw him arrive and called the police - but Taylor continued his "frenzy of destruction", the court heard.

Police screamed for Ms Gledhill to get out as Taylor aimed the digger at the bungalow.

Two months before he destroyed the bungalow, Taylor had run his ex-girlfriend's son off the road with a tractor - and the court heard he was serving a community penalty at the time of the attack.

But psychiatrists said Taylor was not mentally ill and Judge Anthony Goldstaub QC decided that he did not need to be locked away indefinitely. He said Taylor would serve half of the sentence before being released on licence.

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