Mansfield boozer wrote-off Alpha Romeo and smashed vet’s window during vandalism spree
A Mansfield boozer who vandalised an Alpha Romeo so badly it was written off and smashed a vet’s window during a vandalism spree in the early hours has been jailed.
Robert Robinson ripped the wing mirrors from a white Nissan Note, a red Ford Fiesta, a red Alpha Romeo and a grey Skoda, parked on Clipstone Road West at 5am on August 3 last year.
William Bennett, prosecuting, said he must have used his bare hands because he left blood at the scene which police were able to trace him with.
Robinson, aged 23, was caught on CCTV outside Vets for Pets where he picked up a large coping slab and threw it through the windows.
"He then walked to the Forest Town Arena car park where, for reasons only he will know, he began kicking and punching every single part of a red Alpha Romeo," said Mr Bennett.
Robinson ripped off both wing mirrors and the licence plate, causing so much damage that insurers wrote it off and left the owners liable for £5,750 as they were still paying for it on hire purchase.
He fell to the ground, providing more evidence of his inebriation, and briefly left the scene before returning to renew his attack on the Alpha Romeo.
"He gave that car a good working over which was entirely unnecessary," Mr Bennett added.
Nottingham Crown Court heard Robinson has six previous convictions for 15 offences.
At the time he was subject to a 12-month sentence, suspended for 12 months, for aggravated vehicle taking, possessing an offensive weapon and dangerous driving, imposed in November 2024.
David Watts, mitigating, said Robinson couldn't explain why he attacked the cars, or the vet's window, but had been drinking spirits “which he now knows in hindsight he must never do.”
Robinson, of Seventh Avenue, Forest Town, admitted five counts of criminal damage when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court last November.
“Custody is an absolute inevitability and no one has made it so except you,” Judge Michael Auty KC told him on Thursday, March 5.
“This was loutish, vile behaviour and I am afraid the courts have no alternative but to stamp down on it, and stamp down on it hard.”
He sentenced Robinson to two years in prison.