Two homes destroyed by jailed 'human wrecking ball'

A man has been jailed for tearing the roof off his neighbour’s home following a bitter dispute over a garden fence.

- BRYONY GOOCH

Mark Coates was described as a “human wrecking ball” by the judge after he smashed a hole through the roof of his semidetached home in Robertsbridge, East Sussex, and climbed out.

He started to tear tiles and chimney pots off the £450,000 home before throwing them to the ground. Once he had destroyed his own roof, he turned his attention to the roof of his neighbour, Janice Turner. Ms Turner called the police as she cried in her garden and watched Coates destroy her property.

Police captured the moment on video where Coates, 57, used a hammer to smash the roof of both homes in the midst of a twohour stand-off with officers.

During that time, Coates caused more than £200,000 worth of damage to his home and his neighbour’s. He was finally arrested and taken into custody.

Coates has been found guilty of two counts of criminal damage on the properties and handed an indefinite restraining order, but was cleared of two counts of fear of violence or harassment, after a trial at Lewes Crown Court.