‘Stupid’ man who stole a coach and smashed it into his ex’s home spared jail

A yard worker who stole one of his employer’s coaches, drove to his ex-boyfriend’s home and smashed the 18-tonne vehicle through his bedroom wall has been spared jail.

Ian Anderson, 33, beeped the horn repeatedly before driving the coach into the bedroom window of the address in Ashington, Northumberland, on January 21 last year, while his ex was inside.

The impact caused £23,834 of damage to the ground floor flat and £22,000 of damage to the vehicle, which belonged to Liberty Coaches, where Anderson worked as a yard man.

Anderson, of South Tyneside, previously admitted aggravated vehicle taking, causing criminal damage to the property and dangerous driving.

Recorder Tony Hedworth KC handed him a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years, a two-year driving ban and ordered him to pay £1,000 compensation to the housing company and the coach firm to cover their insurance excesses.

He told Anderson: ‘You can make a scene with your ex-partner, you can try to embarrass them, but you don’t do it with someone else’s very expensive property and you don’t do it with someone else’s home, provided by a social housing group.

‘This was a ludicrously irresponsible, stupid and childish thing to do.

‘You weren’t doing it with toys – you were doing it with very expensive property.’

Newcastle Crown Court heard that Anderson and his partner of seven years had split up the month before.

Anderson took the coach from his employer’s yard in Cramlington and drove to his ex’s home.

His former boyfriend was in his bedroom at the time, and he noticed the white coach and could hear its horn blasting before it smashed into the building.

It was driven into a wall, smashing four windows and knocking a radiator off the wall.

Anderson then started shouting ‘Get outside’ to his ex, who remained inside the property, the court heard.

He soon left the area but was arrested later, charged and he admitted the offences at the earliest opportunity.

Glenn Reardon, defending, said Anderson’s intention was to cause embarrassment to his ex-partner.

After a previous hearing, Anderson told reporters: ‘I didn’t intend to hurt anyone.

‘It’s an 18-tonne coach, if I had wanted to cause injury, I would have continued through the house.

‘It was purely to embarrass him.’

Anderson had no previous convictions and he was struggling with his mental health at the time, the court heard.

Mr Reardon said: ‘He does have a deep regret for his actions.’

The judge imposed a restraining order preventing Anderson from entering parts of Ashington.

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