Drunken Hartlepool dad-to-be caught on CCTV damaging seven cars in his street after a six-hour boozing session

A member of a motor racing team who scratched neighbours’ cars after a drunken binge was ordered to pay them all compensation by a judge.
The cats were damaged in Carlton Street, Hartlepool.The cats were damaged in Carlton Street, Hartlepool.
The cats were damaged in Carlton Street, Hartlepool.

Daniel Jebbett, 40, was caught on CCTV as he used his keys to scratch the bodywork of seven cars on his Hartlepool street after a six-hour drinking session.

He had lived there with his dog for less than a year and he did not know any of the neighbours or have any complaints about them, Teesside Crown Court was told.

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In a pre-sentence report prepared for Teesside Crown Court he told a probation officer that he went to Oxford and had a First in Motor Sport Technology and he travelled the Formula racing tracks of the world.

Jebbett told the officer that he was employed part-time as a technician and driver by a Hartlepool team.

His partner, a psychiatrist from Leicester who was in court supporting him, is expecting their baby in December.

The court heard Jebbett has suffered several close family tragedies.

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At 2.30am on March 29 a neighbour’s CCTV cameras in Carlton Street, Hartlepool, filmed him scratching seven cars on his side of the road, said prosecutor Dr Christopher Wood.

The footage showed him clearly damaging the cars, but when he was shown the film he made no comment.

Two owners said that they were left feeling vulnerable, and they had never had any issues with Jebbett.

Last December he was convicted of excess alcohol and breach of a suspended sentence for assault while working as a doorman in Leicester. He missed some unpaid work attendances.

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The probation officer said that Jebbett could not remember scratching the cars because he was drunk, and he would benefit from assistance in coping with his grief over his losses.

Judge Stephen Ashurst said that the maximum penalty for criminal damage is three-months jail, but he felt that the neighbours would prefer to be compensated financially.

Jebbett was given a 12-month community order with 15 days of rehabilitation activities, and ordered to pay £330 compensation to one owner after he pleaded guilty to seven charges of criminal damage. He was fined £250 for failing to do the unpaid work.

The judge also ordered him to pay compensation to the rest after their claims were assessed by Friday, October 4.