Man in pants used Hoover to smash eight neighbours' cars after row

Man in pants used Hoover to smash eight neighbours' cars after row Gareth Phare caused £100,000 worth of damage A man smashed up eight neighbours’ cars after an argument with his partner – all while wearing boxer shorts. Gareth Phare, 34, caused £100K damage by using a plank and a vacuum cleaner to batter the windows of vehicles parked near his home. He smashed an Audi Quatro, a BMW, a VW Passat, two Smart Cars, a Ford Puma, a Ford Focus and a Toyota. Phare used a plank of wood, a vacuum cleaner, and a metal object during his rampage just after 10am on October 21, 2024. Basildon Crown Court heard that Phare caused an estimated £10,000 worth of damage. He was given a suspended sentence of 50 weeks in prison for eight counts of criminal damage and one count of racially aggravated harassment. Prosecutor Tom Ford said Phare would periodically go back inside his block of flats before emerging with a new weapon to attack the vehicles with. When one black neighbour confronted him as he smashed up his BMW, Phare screamed the N-word - leaving the neighbour feeling ‘unsafe’, the court heard. Mitigating, defence barrister George Smart said Phare suffered from mental conditions including autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, obsessive compulsive disorder, Tourette’s syndrome, and PTSD. Mr Smart said Phare was “in a state of very acute distress” following a “serious argument” with his partner”. The former homeless man had been housed there as emergency accommodation, while he lived on benefits and battled drug dependency. He failed to attend court on three occasions over the rampage, leading to his arrest and remand this April. Since being in prison, Mr Smart said his client had gone clean and “wants to get his life back on track”. Judge Richard Conley sentenced Phare to 50 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months. He must also complete 40 rehabilitation days and 150 hours of unpaid works. Judge Conley said: “You were using all manner of things to smash windows and windscreens and cause untold damage and misery to entirely innocent victims, all of whom have been caused immense inconvenience and, in some cases, significant emotional damage.” He added: “I would dearly love to be able to award compensation to your victims. They entirely deserve to be compensated. But I am afraid it would appear that there is no money available with which to compensate them, so with regret, I do not order compensation.”