Jail for town truck rampage man

A Somerset man who stole a 10-tonne truck and left "a trail of destruction" has been jailed for six months.

John Lawson, 21, of Bath Road, Bawdrip, was jailed after he and friend Barry Woodhams, 25, from Street, hot-wired two Ford tippers in July.

The pair crashed into cars before setting the vehicles on fire.

Lawson was told by Bath magistrates that his crime was so serious he must go to jail. Woodhams was given a community service order.

Chairman of the bench, Barry Rennie, said: "This particular incident is akin to joyriding, driving a stolen vehicle without regard to the potential risk to the public."

The destruction started after a night of drinking when the duo scaled a fence at Tor Macadam Glastonbury at around 0400 GMT on 4 July.

'Trail of destruction'

The prosecution said that Woodhams was driving a seven-and-a-half tonne Ford Tipper and Lawson stole a 10 tonne Ford Tipper.

Afterwards they damaged a Ford Sierra, a caravan and a Peugeot.

They then turned the lorries into fields, destroying gates, signposts and hundreds of pounds of maize.

Police officers tracked down the lorries after following "a clearly defined trail of destruction"

Patrick Crossman, defending, said neither men could remember much about what happened.

Criminal damage

Lawson pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to charges of theft, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and six charges of criminal damage.

He was ordered to serve four months concurrently for each driving offence and a consecutive two months for the charges of criminal damage.

Mr Rennie said the crime had been aggravated by the fact that Lawson had previously been disqualified from driving.

Woodhams admitted theft, drink driving, driving without insurance and six charges of criminal damage.

He was given a 150-hour community service order, a three-month curfew order, and was ordered to pay £1,825 costs.

Both men were disqualified from driving for two years.