A BUILDER who went on a drunken rampage through a council estate in Kent in a dumper truck has been sent to prison for 18 months.

Christopher Mills was told by a judge that the sentence would have been "far longer" if Parliament had not decided that the maximum for aggravated vehicle taking should be two years imprisonment.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that 29-year-old Mills had drunk a litre bottle of whisky in his lunch hour before causing almost £20,000 worth of damage with the 40-tonne truck.

He took to the bottle after being warned that he might lose his job working on the West Malling bypass.

At about 3.30pm on June 13, Mills was seen driving the truck off the site towards Temple Way, East Malling.

Orla Daly, prosecuting, said Mills hurtled into a telegraph pole, knocking it over. "He then drove into garages, completely demolishing them," she said.

Mills drove over a van and then shunted back and forth, damaging a digger he had previously used.

Rita Knight was in her garden when the truck demolished her garden wall and fence.

"She ran into the house," said Miss Daly. "She says she thought she was going to die. She was not alone in describing those feelings."

Mills was pursued by resident Wayne Savoury, 30, who jumped into the cab and punched Mills several times in an attempt to get him to stop.

Mills resisted, so Mr Savoury hit him again and managed to turn off the ignition.

When arrested, Mills said: "I have done a naughty thing. I have driven over loads of motors."

Miss Daly said 15 cars were either damaged or written off at a total cost of £15,518. The cost to Kent County Council was £3,277.

Mills, of Four Acres, East Malling, admitted two charges of aggravated vehicle taking, drink-driving, criminal damage and driving without a licence or insurance.

Judge Philip Statman told him: "On June 13, you shattered the peace of West Malling, performing acts of wanton carnage and destruction.

"People in the street and in their homes were terrified by your activity. You had no regard whatsoever to the peace of the community.

"But for the conduct of Mr Savoury, who tried to get you out of this dumper truck and who I may say behaved in an extremely courageous manner, who knows what more damage you would have caused. Not just to property but possibly to life and limb."

The judge ordered that Mr Savoury should receive £500 from the High Sheriff of Kent for his "public spirited" behaviour.

As well as the prison sentence, Mills was fined £300 and banned from driving for five years.

Mr Savoury, a father-of-four, said afterwards: "People on my estate have been shaking my hand. I have become a local hero. I wasn't expecting to be rewarded."

Maidstone and Malling Police Area Commander, Supt Mark Salisbury said: “This was an appalling sequence of reckless and criminal behaviour committed by a man who was heavily intoxicated.

"We commend the prompt and public-spirited actions of members of the East Malling community in apprehending Christopher Mills before his arrest by officers from Maidstone and Malling Police.

"This was an extraordinary set of circumstances and I am pleased that the court has seen fit to sentence Mills for a period of eighteen months in prison.”