Midnight excavator drive causes pounds 35,000 damage

A MAN who caused pounds 35,000 damage after taking a huge earthmoving excavator on a midnight drive was yesterday jailed for three and a half years and banned from driving for four years.

Adam Greenwood, 22, of Otley, West Yorkshire, admitted taking the 25-ton earthmover without authority, causing pounds 35,000 damage, aggravated vehicle taking, driving while disqualified and without a licence, and burglary and assault.

York Crown Court heard how Greenwood decided to take the machine after missing the last bus home following a night of heavy drinking. While he fought to control it, the machine demolished two building-site offices and a lavatory block, moved a 20-ton weighbridge, crushed computers and smashed trees.

The damage delayed work at the site at Burley in Wharfedale, West Yorkshire.