Wages row dad jailed for digger rampage

A DIGGER driver who left a ‘ trail of destruction’ at a newly built hotel because he was owed £600 in wages has been jailed for five years and four months.

John Manley, 36, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday after he drove a hydraulic digger through the front doors of the Travelodge in Liverpool Innovation Park on January 21 last year – the day the building was due to be completed.

Videos of the incident, which left the hotel with more than £443,000 of damage, showed colleagues asking Manley to stop as he shouted: ‘All you had to do was pay me.’

Mark Sharman, defending, said the father-of-two could not afford electricity or food because he had not been paid, and therefore could not have

‘All you had to do was pay me’

his children, aged six and 11, to stay. Sentencing him, Judge David Aubrey said: ‘You were intent on maximum damage and you intended to leave a trail of destruction.’

The judge accepted that Manley, who was reported to have a personality disorder, had a number of issues in his life. He said: ‘This grievance... in consequence of the fact you had not been paid your wages, may well have been the catalyst which led you on this day to erupt.’

Trevor Parry- Jones, prosecuting, said Manley effectively destroyed the ceiling, wiring and structure of the building – where people were still working – and left hotel staff in limbo after the opening was delayed by six weeks. A colleague was also left temporarily blind after he disconnected the fuel line to the vehicle and diesel sprayed into his face.