badmash
Well-Known Member
<a class="postlink" href="http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/crime/s/1587271_drunken-dad-went-on-wrecking-spree-in-newton-heath-over-diamond-jubilee-bunting-row" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://menmedia.co.uk/manchesterevening ... unting-row</a>
A drunken dad went on a wrecking spree with a metal bar in a row over Queen’s Diamond Jubilee bunting.
James Acton, 32, came home from work to find his partner fuming after a spat with their neighbours ahead of the Royal celebrations.
Bunting had been put up in the street – but didn’t reach as far as Acton’s house.
The seething father-of-two drank 10 bottles of beer before arming himself with a scaffolding pole.
He strode along Alminstone Close in Newton Heath and smashed the windows of two houses, three cars and a minibus.
Residents feared for their safety as Acton, an insurance claims adviser, stood in the street brandishing the bar shouting: “Come on! Come on! I’ll show everyone.”
Acton, who has now moved to Pym Street in Heywood, Rochdale, later admitted affray and six charges of criminal damage.
He was given a nine-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, and tagged when he appeared at Manchester Crown Court. The court heard that the bunting row was the culmination of a long-standing neighbour-on-neighbour feud.
Rebecca Hirst, prosecuting, said Acton had returned from work on June 1 to find his partner had been involved in a row over the decorations.
Acton drank between 10 and a dozen ‘stubbies’ (small bottles) of beer and ‘brooded’ on the argument before grabbing the pole.
His rampage lasted 10 minutes before he was finally tackled to the floor by one of his neighbours while another called the police. When officers arrived, Acton told them: “It’s me you’re after. It’s me.”
Michael Lavery, defending, told the judge the dispute with the neighbours had been ‘building for four or five years’.
Mr Lavery said: “He felt on a daily basis he had to return from work to deal with feuds arising between his partner and the neighbours.
“He had been drinking before the incident and thought this would solve the problem once and for all.”
Sentencing, Judge Charles Bloom QC told Acton: “I can understand arguments and shaking of fists, but what you did was totally disproportionate. You went berserk.”
Acton – who has since been made redundant from his job as a result of the economic downturn – later told the M.E.N. he was ‘ashamed’ of his actions.
He said: "I wasn’t too concerned about the Jubilee – I wanted to do it for my little girl.
“I was drunk and did react to it in a bad way. I’m ashamed of it, basically because of my family and the neighbours who weren’t involved. I’m ashamed my kids had to see me like that.
“I had grief with other residents in the area but I tried to take the moral high ground.
“I’m ashamed of how I reacted that day. It was the wrong way to go about it, but I tried all the right ways to go about it and they didn’t work.”
Acton was also hit with a 10-week night-time curfew. He was not ordered to pay any compensation.