'Nuisance' Troy Henton, of Hinckley, jailed over vandalism

A "thorough nuisance" who caused more than £1,000 of damage by dousing a house and car with red paint has been jailed for eight months.

Troy Henton, who was described in court as having an appalling criminal record, also smashed the lounge window of another house on the same night.

Leicester Crown Court was told the acts of vandalism amounted to Henton's fifth breach of an anti-social behaviour order (Asbo).

The 26-year-old, of Teign Bank Road, Hinckley, decided to "target" residents on the same road where he was living on December 3 last year.

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At 9.30pm, a householder heard a noise outside and went to investigate.

"He found red paint had been thrown over his front door and surrounding area, as well as over his Toyota car," said Jonathan Cox, for the prosecution.

"He saw someone in dark clothing running away."

Another resident was in his living room when the window was suddenly smashed, resulting in £200 damage.

The police found an almost empty one-litre can of red paint close to the defendant's nearby home, but he refused to answer the door.

"One of the officers looked through a window to see him with a knife attempting to self-harm his arms," said Mr Cox.

Entry was forced and paramedics were called to attend to what turned out to be "superficial" injuries.

A dark-coloured top recovered from the defendant's house was splattered in red paint.

Henton pleaded guilty to two counts of causing damage and breaching an Asbo.

The order was imposed in 2005, and included banning Henton from causing harassment, alarm or distress.

Mr Cox said Henton had 140 offences on his record, including dishonesty and public order crimes.

"He's a thorough nuisance," said Mr Cox.

"He's flagrantly breached court orders."

Sentencing Henton, Recorder Stuart Sprawson said: "You have an appalling record.

"You've been made the subject of various orders to assist you in the past, but have chosen to breach them.

"You were subject to a community order at the time of these offences."

Paul Tubb, mitigating, said Henton, a father-of-three, was on medication for mental health problems and also had issues with drugs and alcohol.

He said: "He's not able to deal with problems when they're thrown at him."

The reason for his offending was against a background of difficulty with social services about having contact with his children, the court was told.