Lorry driver is jailed after smashing his HGV into girlfriend’s house
10-year sentence for man who threatened to ‘park in living room’ after an argument with partner
A LORRY driver ploughed an HGV into his girlfriend’s house after threatening to park his lorry in her living room, a court has heard.
Derek Wellington repeatedly reversed his vehicle into Sara Cassidy’s home in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, after she refused to meet him on the night of Sept 8 2021.
One witness said it sounded like an “earthquake” when the lorry hit the property, completely wrecking it and destroying contents worth £25,000.
Ms Cassidy, who had a friend and two children visiting at the time, was not inside when Wellington careered down the road as she had agreed to meet him on a street corner near her house to calm him down. She watched him drive past at about 11pm in a drunken rage and raced back to her home “in terror” to find it “caved in”.
A judge heard how Ms Cassidy’s friend and the two children escaped from the house unhurt.
The destruction left Clyde Valley Housing Association with a bill of £475,000 due to damage and loss of rental income.
Wellington, who has a string of previous convictions, was arrested after his damaged lorry was found abandoned in a supermarket car park the next morning with his wallet inside.
The court was told how he had been on bail at the time of the incident and had been ordered not to go near Ms Cassidy after he attacked her in a hotel room in Edinburgh.
Wellington pleaded guilty to culpable and reckless endangerment of lives at an earlier hearing and was yesterday sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Lord Armstrong said that “taking into account the grave consequences” of Wellington’s criminal actions, the number of people affected, the impact on their lives and the financial loss, he was satisfied there was no appropriate alternative to a custodial sentence.
Wellington also admitted assaulting Ms Cassidy in the hotel room and assaulting a police officer by spitting.
Solicitor-advocate Iain Paterson, defending, said Wellington was “remorseful” and had genuinely believed that there was no one in the house at the time.