Totton's Robert Mann given suspended jail term after damaging cars and home with machete

A JEALOUS Totton man smashed up cars with a machete and threw lumps of concrete at his ex-partner's house, a court heard.

Appearing before Southampton Crown Court for sentencing, Robert Mann (29), of Coriander Drive, was handed an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He admitted one count of possession of a blade and three counts of causing criminal damage to his ex-partner's house and two cars.

Prosecutor Aleks Lloyd told the court Mann had been "quite angry" when he went with a machete to his former partner's home in Bramtoco Way, Totton, on 14th August.

He threw "chunks" of concrete at her house, cracking a kitchen window and damaging a drainpipe.

Mann hit a blue Ford car parked nearby "several times" with the machete, Mr Lloyd went on, damaging the rear windscreen and a rear door window, believing the vehicle belonged to a "male visitor".

Mr Lloyd said Mann also threw a lump of concrete at a white Suzuki car parked nearby and damaged it.

He added: "He was seen by neighbours shouting and striking the ground with... the machete, causing sparks to fly."

An eyewitness saw Mann throw the machete into a bush before trying to flee, but he was soon arrested by the police who also found the weapon.

The court was told Mann had a previous conviction for punching a police officer in the face, and has previously been in custody.

Damon Hayes, mitigating, told the court Mann suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and when he committed the offences had run out of his medication.

Mr Hayes told the court Mann had "got drunk" before going to his ex-partner's house and that he was "fixated on the thought she was seeing someone else".

Mann took a machete with him but had "no intention" to cause injury to his ex-partner, he said, and thought he was "likely to find the new boyfriend's car outside".

Mr Hayes said that when Mann was arrested he was "very emotional", adding: "During the police interview he made a lot of contradictory remarks and showed contradictory behaviours.

"He was very hostile and agitated, and very different to the pleasant, polite young man before you today."

The court heard Mann had been in custody for three months for his previous conviction and has been earning certificates for completing work assignments.

The court was also told Mann has "recommenced" his Christian faith, attending Sunday services led by the prison chaplain and delivering scripture readings.

Sentencing, Recorder Ben Newton told Mann: "Your focus now needs to be on getting your life back together."

Mann was ordered to pay £500 compensation to the owner of the damaged Ford.