Man smashed up building site after being the only one who turned up to work
This is the extensive damage caused to a building site by a fed up employee.
Owen Powell, of Barry, in Wales, took his anger out on 16 walls after realising that he was the only person to turn up for work that day.
CCTV captured how the 42-year-old got into a mechanical digger, destroying the concrete walls erected by his colleagues.
Cardiff Crown Court was told he was suffering from alcoholism and had a mental breakdown when the incident happened.
Arriving at the site, Powell ‘became annoyed’ that he was the only one there, and ‘lost his temper’.
He called his site manager, and the court heard the vandal sounded intoxicated and agitated on the phone.
Moments later, Powell drove into the walls causing more than £22,000 worth of damage.
Four of the walls were able to be repaired at a cost of £3,000 but the remainder had to be scrapped at the cost of £15,000.
The total worth of the damage after the incident on July 9, 2022, came to £40,418.
Prosecutor Nigel Fryer stressed that there was an ‘element of revenge’ about the offence and the defendant had ‘intended to cause a serious amount of damage’.
In mitigation, Adam Sharp said his client had recently been released from prison and was ‘not in a fit state of mind’.
The barrister said ‘matters came to a head’ when Powell found himself at work on his own and was unable to receive support or assistance.
Sentencing, judge Jeremy Jenkins said: ‘Your employer had shown you nothing accept support and encouragement in regards to your difficulty and this is the way you repay him.
‘Anyone who behaves in the manner you did with your antecedence commits an offence that is too serious to be dealt with by anything other than a custodial sentence.’
Powell was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months.
He was ordered to carry out a 10-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 180 hours unpaid work and to pay costs of £530.
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