Drugged-up Brit abroad taken off flight home in Cyprus smashed up victim's house with sledgehammer
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David Cousins, 40, was told he could not travel home in September so had to wait for a second flight.
But when he finally returned to the Waterlooville area the ‘red mist’ descended and he climbed in through a terrified householder’s window and proceeded to destroy the home.
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Hide AdCousins was ‘running around the house smashing up various items,’ Portsmouth Crown Court heard in a remote session held during lockdown.
Jailing him for 27 months, judge Timothy Mousley QC said his actions were ‘terrifying violence’ and added: ‘This was disgraceful behaviour.’
Imogen Nelson, mitigating, added: ‘He accepts that he completely lost control of himself and that effectively a red mist came over him.
‘He was so enraged and he describes the incident as being a complete blur.
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Hide Ad'He went on a rampage, and that was damaging a lot of things at that address.’
She said Cousins was ‘deranged’ and said his they were ‘actions of a man not in his rational mind’.
Ms Nelson added her client had been ‘taking drugs in large quantities whilst in Cyprus’ and while he sobered up to pay for a second flight it appeared ‘it would have an ongoing effect on him’ when he returned to the UK.
She said: ‘Following an incident he was removed from the flight back to the UK by staff and then held by the security staff.
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Hide Ad‘He had to pay a substantial amount of money for new airfare and didn’t have anywhere to stay.’
He slept in a van and then went to Portsmouth Central police station but was told to go to another station for help, and ended up attacking the home instead.
Cousins had amassed a ‘massive debt,’ the court heard. Cousins, of no fixed address, was previously diagnosed with having a drug psychosis.
The defendant, who has 28 convictions for 45 previous offences, admitted affray and damaging property.
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Hide AdPrevious convictions include public order offences and criminal damage.
The victims cannot be identified for legal reasons.