Threw paving slab at window

Anger drove a South Holland man to smash a neighbour’s window with a paving slab, a court heard.

John Stephenson had been drinking when he went to the home of Ashton Linger, who is the partner of Stephenson’s cousin.
It happened in Summerson Close in Donington, where they both live, at about 9pm on June 18.
Prosecutor Fiona McClelland said: “Ashton identified someone was outside the house on the Ring doorbell and could see it was the defendant. He appeared to be intoxicated.
“At 9.30pm Ashton heard a really loud bang and looked out of a bedroom window to see the defendant throwing a paving slab at a downstairs window.
“He then left and she called police.
“One side of the lounge window had been completely smashed.”
When police arrived, a member of the public indicated where 47-year-old Stephenson was hiding.
He refused to be interviewed but, in court, pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage to a 4ft x 2ft double glazed unit.
Solicitor Phillipa Chatterton, mitigating, said the incident was part of a longstanding dispute between her client and the complainant.
“He hasn’t just decided to go round and throw a slab for no reason,” she added.
“Had he not been drinking he might not have reacted in that way but he’d got to the end of his tether.”
Stephenson was fined £120 and ordered to pay £200 compensation and £133 in costs and victim surcharge.