Bad driving sparked road rage car door attack in Mansfield

A Mansfield man was so enraged by another motorist's driving that he chased after the car and battered its doors, a court heard.
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Jonathan Burton pulled out in front of the other car and began shouting abuse at the driver, on Rock Hill, at 8.30am, on July 21.

More abuse was hurled back and forth when the cars were level with each other, but an oncoming lorry forced Burton to drop back.

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And when they drew level at red traffic lights, Burton shouted: “Get out and come here. Come out and I will show you who the man is.”

He battered the side of the other car with his car door, causing £384 of damage, until the lights went green.

The driver thought Burton “must be crazy and on drugs,” said prosecutor Robert Carr.

Harry Bevan, mitigating, said Burton, whose provisional licence had expired, had borrowed his girlfriend’s car to go to the shops when he spotted the other car driving erratically at speed.

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“There were children and members of the public around and this annoyed him,” Mr Bevan said.

“He took it into his own hands to remonstrate with the complainant and slow him down.

“He lost his temper. He is willing to pay for the damage.”

He said Burton had been signed off work with depression and anxiety last year, but had since found a new job and had a “glowing reference” from his new employer.

The court heard he was last in court in November 2017 for criminal damage.

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Burton, 25, of King Street, Mansfield Woodhouse, admitted criminal damage and driving without insurance or a licence, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Friday.

He was fined £225, and ordered to pay £384 compensation for the damage, as well as a £30 government surcharge.

He received six penalty points on his licence for the driving offences.

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