Selston man harassed woman and attacked her car with a sledgehammer

A ‘stupid and irresponsible’ Selston man used a sledgehammer to smash a woman’s car window because he wrongly thought her son had been stealing from him, a court heard.
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Gary Holmes waged ‘a short campaign of harassment directed at the woman’, which began when he threatened her, while her young children were present at her Selston home, on April 6, 2020.

“These were serious threats, but not thought to be meaningful by you,” Judge Mark Watson told him. “You will know how unpleasant it would be to see a grown man in a rage.”

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Nottingham Crown Court heard how Holmes ‘vented his anger on a gate’ and returned two days later, to issue more threats and abuse.

Nottingham Crown Court.Nottingham Crown Court.
Nottingham Crown Court.

He turned up at the address wielding the sledgehammer on April 15, and damaged the woman’s car.

Judge Watson told him: “What you did was quite stupid and irresponsible.

“What you should have done if you thought he was stealing from you is go to the police.

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“It may have been that he would be sitting where you are now. You thought he had been stealing from you. The prosecution says he hadn’t.”

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Distress

Gary Short, mitigating, said Holmes lost his job as a result of the incident and has been living on his savings for a couple of years.

He is due to start a new job shortly, Mr Short told the court, and this would make it difficult for him to observe a curfew, or carry out unpaid work.

Holmes, aged 53, of Alma Road, Selston, admitted harassment, putting in fear of violence, between April 6 and April 15, 2020.

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Sentencing Judge Watson told him: “I don't take the view that you were intending to maximise fear or distress.

“Nonetheless it’s a serious matter and one I intend to hit you in the pocket. You brought this predicament on yourself.”

He fined Holmes £1,000 and ordered him to pay £250 costs and £250 compensation to his victim.

He was also given a restraining order, banning him from contacting two people, or going to two named roads in Selston.

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Judge Watson said: “If you break the order you will find yourself exactly where you are now. Make sure you don’t come back.”

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