Man who drove coach into ex-partner's house spared jail
Ian Anderson admitted crashing the vehicle into a property in Ashington, Northumberland
A coach company employee who drove an 18-tonne single-decker into his ex-partner's home in Northumberland has been told by a judge it was a "ludicrous, irresponsible, stupid and childish" thing to do.
Ian Anderson, 33, beeped the horn repeatedly before he drove the coach into the bedroom window of the address in Ashington on January 21 2025, while his ex was inside.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that the impact caused £23,834 of damage to the ground floor flat and £22,000 of damage to the vehicle, which belonged to Liberty Coaches, where Anderson worked as a yard man.
The defendant, of Boldon, South Tyneside, previously admitted aggravated vehicle taking, causing criminal damage to the property and dangerous driving.
Recorder Tony Hedworth KC handed him a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, a two-year driving ban and ordered him to pay £1,000 compensation to the housing company and the coach firm to cover their insurance excesses.
The court heard that Anderson and his partner of seven years had split up the month before.
Anderson took a coach from his employer's yard in Cramlington and drove to his ex's, where he beeped the horn outside.
His former boyfriend was in his bedroom at the time and he noticed the white coach before it was driven at the building.
It was driven into a wall, causing four windows to smash, a radiator to come off the wall and structural damage.
Anderson then shouted "Get outside" to his ex, who remained inside the property, the court heard.
Anderson then left the area but was arrested later, charged and he admitted the offences at the earliest opportunity.
Glenn Reardon, defending, said Anderson's intention was to cause embarrassment to his ex-partner.
Anderson had no previous convictions and he was struggling with his mental health at the time, the court heard.
Mr Reardon said: "He does have a deep regret for his actions."
Recorder Hedworth told Anderson: "You can make a scene with your ex-partner, you can try to embarrass them but you don't do it with someone else's very expensive property and you don't do it with someone else's home, provided by a social housing group.
"This was a ludicrously irresponsible, stupid and childish thing to do.
"You weren't doing it with toys, you were doing it with very expensive property."
The judge imposed a restraining order preventing Anderson from entering parts of Ashington.
After a previous hearing, Anderson told reporters: "I didn't intend to hurt anyone.
"It's an 18-tonne coach, if I had wanted to cause injury, I would have continued through the house.
"It was purely to embarrass him."