A paranoid husband who rammed a bulldozer into a village pub after wrongly suspecting his wife of having an affair with regulars has been jailed for 40 months.
Daniel Morgan, 35, had been drinking at The New Inn in Cefn Rhigos, Rhondda Cynon Taf, before he flew into a rage and drove the heavy vehicle into the front of the building.
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard that Morgan, who visited the pub most evenings, 'saw red' after being taunted over the breakdown of his marriage. He had recently moved out of his marital home and grown increasingly paranoid, mistakenly believing his former partner had been unfaithful.
The Incident
On the day of the incident in December last year, Morgan had been drinking and taking cocaine. He stormed out of the pub after being taunted about his relationship breakdown. Prosecutor Jason Howells said Morgan messaged landlord Christopher Common: 'Be careful, you can't stop a dozer,' and later texted 'it will be a drive-thru.'
Morgan then stole a vintage Hanomag D600 bulldozer from his father's nearby farm and drove it back towards the pub. His father, Phillip, watched in horror from a window as his son ploughed through an Isuzu truck on the farm and quickly called his nephew for help. The pair rushed to the pub to warn the owners as customers exited into the car park when Morgan arrived.
Morgan rammed the bulldozer into the porch, causing more than £22,000 of damage and costing £7,000 in lost revenue for the weekend. The court heard that Morgan's father 'heroically' attempted to cut the diesel pipe on the engine to stop his son's 'revenge attack.'
Aftermath and Sentencing
Judge Celia Hughes said: 'Your father, quite heroically in my opinion, reached the pub before you did and warned the publican to get his customers out. You deliberately drove it into the front porch of the pub, causing significant damage and, more importantly, great fear to those who had been inside.'
After damaging the pub, Morgan headed towards his estranged wife's home, driving straight over another vehicle. His rampage was only halted when his father, who had already tried to cut the diesel pipe, mounted a digger and used the bucket to smash the dashboard. Morgan's father, uncle, and cousin blocked the road with the digger until Morgan finally stopped, 'covered in blood.'
Police arrived to find Morgan 'heavily intoxicated' in the driver's seat, bleeding from his head and hands. At the hospital, he told officers: 'This is all because my ex won't let me see the kids.' He also admitted he 'saw red' when he drove over his family's vehicles.
Morgan, of Aberdare, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, dangerous driving, and criminal damage recklessly endangering life. The court heard that he had been drinking six pints of beer and using £100 of cocaine daily due to his relationship breakdown.
Judge Hughes sentenced Morgan to 40 months in prison and disqualified him from driving for three years and three months. She said: 'What you did on the night of this incident will have grave effects on you and others close to you for the rest of your life. You are extremely fortunate that no one was seriously injured.'
Stephen Thomas, defending, said those who knew Morgan were 'genuinely shocked' by his behaviour, having known him as a 'trustworthy' and 'hard-working' man. Landlord Christopher Common believed Morgan was 'acting weird' due to his mental health and noted he would usually help anyone in the village.
Ryan Randall, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'Daniel Morgan showed a complete disregard for the safety of other people who could have been in the pub. This wasn't an accidental collision, but a threatened action which was then carried out, not only damaging a building and vehicles, but stopping a business from trading and impacting on the livelihoods of the landlord and farmer.'
