Irate pedestrian punched out windows of car blocking pavement in Mansfield

Marius Hau was recorded on CCTV smashing the rear window of a silver VW Polo on Church Street, on April 20, said prosecutor Becky Allsop.

Hau, aged 40, walked off before returning to the car, which was also parked on double yellow lines, and smashing two more windows with his fists to cause £1,500 of damage.

The car's owner said he had parked there because there was nowhere else to park 15 minutes earlier and there had been no previous issues. He must pay £130 excess on his insurance.

Hau told police he had noticed the same car parked there before and became frustrated because parking was available and angry because disabled people would be affected. He drank five pints with friends after work and admitted “his behaviour becomes more sensitive when he has a drink,” Ms Allsop said.

Sulma Mansuri, mitigating, said Hau, an apprentice electrician, deserved full credit for his guilty plea.

“That car constantly blocks the pavement on that road,” she said. “It tipped him over the edge for a reason he has no knowledge of. I can’t offer you any greater explanation about what triggered him on that day. He is immensely sorry. It is out of character.”

Hau, of Old Mill Lane, Mansfield Woodhouse, admitted criminal damage when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court on Tuesday. The presiding magistrate told him: “You really can’t take matters into your own hands like this.”

He was fined £266 and must pay £130 compensation with £85 costs.