Smith caused more than £8,00 worth of damage to an Asda lorry (Picture: KMG/SWNS)
An engineer who flew into a ‘rage’ that caused more than £8,000 worth of damage to an Asda lorry has been banned from driving for 18 months.
After working a 12 hour night shift, 25-year-old Sidney Smith smashed a lorry with a crowbar after becoming stuck in traffic due to Just Stop Oil protests.
Smith had been stuck in queues for hours while on his way home to Brentwood, but as he got to Crossways Boulevard, Dartford, he undertook an Asda lorry and clipped the vehicle.
He got out of his car and began shouting at the lorry driver, before ripping off the number plate and windscreen wiper.
Smith then returned to his car and started driving dangerously in front of the lorry by repeatedly braking sharply in front of the lorry until it collided with his car.
It was at this point Smith produced a crowbar from his boot and started striking the driver’s door with it, causing £8,103.25 of damage to the lorry.
The 25-year-old had been in traffic for hours before the incident (Picture: SWNS)
Smith, of Lower Dunton Road, Brentwood, was later charged with dangerous driving and criminal damage and admitted both offences when he appeared at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court.
He admitted he had ‘lost it’ but claimed the lorry driver had clipped his car, not the other way round.
Richard Lamb, prosecuting, said: ‘He went to the boot of his vehicle and got a red bar out and started striking the driver’s door with it, he did that four times and was shouting and was angry.
‘The lorry driver thought the window would break and he was shouting and pacing about with the bar. He then got in his vehicle again and sped off.’
The incident, which happened on October 18, 2022, was caught on dash cam footage and Smith was invited for a voluntary interview over the matter almost a year later in September 2023 before he was charged.
The prosecutor added: ‘He has a previous conviction for dangerous driving in 2016 and was given a suspended sentence. There was a lot of damage to the lorry but the insurance has dealt with that. I will be asking for £800 compensation.’
Asda will receive £500 in compensation from Smith (Picture: Getty Images)
Andrew Thompson, defending, said his client was ‘ashamed’ and wrote a letter of apology.
His defence said if Smith was jailed for the new offence he would lose his job and his home, as he owns his house and business.
Mr Thompson added: ‘He deeply regrets what happened, he’s embarrassed and if possible would like to meet the Asda driver and shake his hand and apologise.
‘He says the Asda driver wouldn’t let him in at all and there were three lanes full of traffic. It was the trigger.’
Magistrates said Smith’s offences were so serious they would be jailing him for 120 days for the offence, but told him the term would be suspended for 18 months.
He was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, attend 10 rehabilitation sessions and pay £500 compensation to Asda.
Smith was also banned from driving for 18 months and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £154 as well as £85 costs and was given 28 days to pay the court what he owes.
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