Mansfield man smashed car window with a chair after friendship ended

Marcus Downey broke the rear window of an Audi A4, on Ladybrook Lane, just after midnight, on March 31, 2018.

One of the car owner’s sons heard a voice he recognised saying: “S*** I missed it.” and waited inside with his brother until they heard someone on the drive.

Both sons chased Downey down the street and brought him back to their house, said prosecutor Robert Carr.

“He told them someone had paid him £50 to damage the car,” Mr Carr said.

In police interview Downey admitted throwing the chair and said he had fallen out with one of the owner’s sons.

The court heard he had a previous conviction for criminal damage in 2017, when he was ordered to pay compensation.

Stephan Fox, mitigating, said Downey suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism and anxiety.

He said he had since “turned his life around” and had stopped smoking cannabis, returned to college and had ambitions to box and teach boxing.

“It is sad that this has come out of a friendship that has irretrievably damaged,” he added.

Downey, 20, of Farndon Way, admitted criminal damage, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Friday.

He was fined £120, and ordered to pay £85 compensation and £85 costs, with a £30 government surcharge.