Digger driver faces jail for £50,000 drunken rampage in stolen JCB
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Bulldozer driver is facing jail over a drunken rampage of £50,000 in a stolen JCB when he vandalized the house and car in a bitter family feud before being arrested at the McDonald’s drive-thru
- Mark Holmes, 55, crashed the vintage JCB into a modern house in Gwent
- His £50,000 rampage was part of an ongoing family dispute, a court was told
- Holmes was remanded in custody over Christmas pending sentencing the next year.
- He admitted to a string of driving offences, theft from the JCB and a battery charge
A bulldozer driver was taken into custody over Christmas after he admitted to drunkenly robbing an vintage JCB and crashing it into a house and two cars before going to McDonald’s for a burger.
Mark Holmes, 55, crashed the heavy-duty yellow machine into the modern brick house in the Blackwood area of Gwent, South Wales, belonging to victim Paula Brown in a family dispute.
Neighbors watched in shock as the massive bulldozer backed up repeatedly before pounding into the house on the porch.
Footage filmed by workers in a nearby van shows Holmes calmly holding his phone behind the wheel of the JCB as he carries out the attack.
Mark Holmes, 55, used the vintage JCB to crash into Paula Brown’s Gwent home in November as part of an ongoing family dispute.
During the rampage, Holmes also crashed into Ms Brown’s Ford Focus, pictured here, attempting to flip it onto its roof.
A voice can be heard from the van saying, ‘I’ve got it all on tape for you, okay mate? I have it all on film. Damn bastard, what are you doing? Damn joke.
Another voice says, ‘Get her record.’
After the destruction, Holmes was seen backing up before walking away from the modern property towards a McDonald’s restaurant.
A court heard that Holmes also struck Ms Brown’s silver Ford Focus and blue Ford Fiesta cars while driving over the alcohol limit.
Holmes was eventually arrested a mile away after driving to a McDonalds in Blackwood, Gwent on November 8.
Cardiff Crown Court heard Holmes also assaulted Ms Brown during the JCB rampage as part of a bitter family feud.
A Ford Fiesta, pictured, also damaged by Holmes during the terrifying incident in November.
A group of nearby builders filmed the shocking incident that landed Holmes in remand for sentencing on January 12, 2023.
Holmes is estimated to have caused some £50,000 in damage during his drinking binge.
Holmes, of Penybryn, Caerphilly, has now pleaded guilty to aggravated taking of a vehicle, property damage, dangerous driving and drink driving.
He denied the assault causing actual bodily harm, but admitted to the lesser charge of assault.
Recording Judge Mark Cotter KC adjourned sentencing to January 12, 2023 for pre-sentence reporting.
He said, ‘It’s in your best interest to cooperate with probation.’
In one state, a man tried to protest with Holmes as he continued his rampage.
Holmes was taken into custody and an interim order of disqualification from driving was issued.
In September 2021, a Turkish excavator driver went on a rampage in a coal mine, causing extensive damage.
In July 2021, a German construction worker used a large Volvo excavator to cause over £400,000 worth of damage to an apartment complex in a wage row.
In September 2019, a drunken Darren Verity used his bulldozer to vandalize his employer’s £100,000 Range Rover and a nearby HGV truck. The shocking incident was captured on the company’s CCTV system, which was later replayed at Bradford Crown Court before Verity was jailed for 14 months in November 2020.