Portsmouth yob avoids jail after going on 'frightening' criminal damage spree including throwing brick through window and trying to get in woman's car

A THUG who went on the rampage after a street fight with his dad was spared jail.
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But Asa Palmer, 25, was told to cough up nearly £2,000 for his criminal damage spree in Sea View Road, Drayton, that saw him inflict a tirade of abuse on innocent residents after he was thrown out of his parents’ house in the street.

Palmer, who received a nine-month jail term suspended for 20 months in September 2018 for violent disorder in Guildhall Square when Pompey were playing Plymouth, turned violent again on the evening of March 24 this year.

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‘He was fighting with his father in the street before he then approached a neighbour and started throwing stones at his car,’ prosecutor Leigh Hart told Portsmouth Crown Court.

Portsmouth Crown Court

Picture: César Moreno Huerta

portsmouth news breakingPortsmouth Crown Court

Picture: César Moreno Huerta

portsmouth news breaking
Portsmouth Crown Court Picture: César Moreno Huerta portsmouth news breaking

‘He then picked up a brick and threw it through the window of the Honda Civic that was on the neighbour’s driveway.’

Police arrived on scene to witness Palmer jumping on a car bonnet and throwing more stones before he targeted his next victim driving in a Nissan Micra.

The female victim said: ‘A man came running towards me and was waving his arms and shouting at me.’

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The woman momentarily stopped thinking Palmer needed help before he tried to get in the passenger door.

‘I reversed my car away at that point - he looked scary,’ she said.

‘He continued to shout and kicked the wing mirror on my car.’

Speaking of the impact it had on her, the victim said: ‘It’s made me very nervous especially because he lives near me.

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‘I’m now wary when I’m driving alone and have flashbacks of what happened. Straight after it happened I was too nervous to drive and had to be picked up because I was so scared.’

Palmer also broke the wing mirror of a BMW during his campaign of terror while also attempting to ‘grab a cyclist’ riding past.

‘Officers deployed a taser so the attempt was unsuccessful. The cyclist left the scene so no further action was needed,’ Ms Hart said.

The court heard Palmer had six convictions including for public order and possessing a weapon but none for criminal damage, which he admitted three counts of at his sentencing hearing.

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His suspended sentence for violent disorder when Portsmouth were playing Plymouth in the ‘dockyard derby’ saw him ‘running around Guildhall shouting and being aggressive’ and ‘pushing against a police line’.

Poor compliance with the requirements of his suspended sentence led to Palmer being handed an additional two months on the order - meaning his criminal damage spree now fell within the timeline.

It left Recorder James Waddington QC with the option of activating the suspended sentence and jailing Palmer, who is now back living in Sea View Road with his parents.

But the judge decided not to impose custody on the groundworker. ‘I’m just persuaded it would be unjust,’ he said.

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‘You were right at the end of the suspended sentence and a custodial sentence would be small.’

Instead Palmer was told to pay compensation totalling over £900 to cover damage he caused to the victims’ cars.

He was also fined £500 and told to pay costs of £500.

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