Vandal slashed 100 tyres in 'revenge attack' on used car dealer’s forecourt

A vandal who slashed 100 tyres on a used car dealer’s forecourt has received a suspended jail sentence after admitting to the planned “revenge attack”.

Darren Kent, of Conway Croft, Newport, pleaded guilty to criminal damage after he admitted causing more than £5,000 worth of damage at Newport’s Carpoint UK in the attack on 25 cars.

The South Wales Argus reported the case from a hearing at Cardiff Crown Court, where Claire Pickthall, prosecuting, said that Kent had attacked the business as he “believed someone at the business was involved in violence towards him”.

“He said he came back to see how they liked it,” she said, adding: “It was, by his own admission, a revenge attack.”

Pickthall said that the attack, which had been caught on CCTV cameras, had resulted in a total loss to Carpoint UK of £5,800.

Stuart John, mitigating, said his client had entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity.

Recovering heroin user Kent, who had 25 previous convictions for 55 offences – including criminal damage for throwing a concrete slab at a parked car and throwing a brick through a window – was jailed for 12 months, suspended for 18 months.

He was also ordered to complete a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement and observe a four-month electronically monitored curfew between 8pm and 6am.

Kent must pay £180 prosecution costs and a £156 victim surcharge.