DIG OF THE GRUMP
Moment ‘drunk and angry digger driver destroy boss’s £80k Range Rover and lorry cab in rage’
DRAMATIC video shows the moment an "angry worker took revenge" by allegedly using a digger to wreck an HGV and his boss's £80,000 Range Rover Autobiography.
Footage appears to show a man using the huge machine to smash the cab of the lorry as well as the luxury car at the demolition company site in Bradford.
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Seconds later furious workers jump on to the moving digger to haul him from the cab and pin him to the ground.
The owners of the yard, Thomas Crompton Demolition, said today only the bravery of their staff stopped lives being lost.
The accused, named locally as Darren Verity, 52, is understood to have suffered two broken ribs during the incident.
Mr Verity was accused of being under the influence of drink and drugs.
He is alleged to have returned to work and used a set of keys to get access to the digger.
SHOCKING CLIP
The shocking clip was filmed on Saturday and CCTV footage starts by showing partly off-screen the wreckage of a black Range Rover being dropped by the digger.
The machine is then driven over to an HGV and the bucket is dropped on to the roof, immediately crushing it. The bucket is dropped again and used to inflict yet more damage to the crushed cab.
Shocked workers can then be seen running towards the digger, which is moving, presenting a serious risk of crushing them.
Another video, filmed on a mobile, shows the damage being inflicted to the lorry, followed by scenes of furious workers physically hauling the man out of the cab and pinning him to the ground.
A fellow employee can be heard saying: “What is he doing, the daft c***?”
Four men then try and wrestle the man from the digger, with one person shouting: “Punch me and I’ll rip your f***ing head off.”
There was a real danger to life and property and we are pleased nothing more serious happened.
Thomas Crompton
Another person shouts “get the f*** out” and he is thrown to ground and pinned down.
The person in the digger then says: “I know I’m in trouble, I don’t give a f***” as others on the site scream “get the police”.
Company owner Mr Crompton today said: "Darren has been dismissed numerous times in the past and given chance after chance. I’ve given him about six or seven chances.
"He came into work on Saturday and was unfit for work. He went home and came back.”
He added: "Then I heard a massive bang. I looked out of the office to see my car bouncing into the air. We looked in shock at the CCTV and could see our excavator smashing up a £120,000 DAF XF.
"We had to pull him from the vehicle and secure him until the police arrived.
"This could easily have been a murder investigation.
"My car was smashed up, which on another day could have had my baby nephew asleep inside, and the lorries were destroyed, which were all parked up.
"There was a real danger to life and property and we are pleased nothing more serious happened.
";The whole company is in shock and there is a sense of anger and upset."
At his home today, Mr Verity would not talk about the incident, but said: “I’m hurting.” He added: “I have been sacked.”
His wife has since been to the site to apologise on his behalf, is believed to have lost his mother recently.
BROKEN RIBS
A woman claiming to be the driver's daughter complained his colleagues had been too rough.
She wrote: “Who the f** are those in the machine with him because you're f****** bang out of order doing that to my dad, giving him broken ribs.
"You two have made things ten times worse."
Crompton deals in demolition, heavy plant hire waste removal and road sweeping, among other services.
A spokeswoman for Thomas Crompton today said: "This man was determined to destroy lives and machinery, had it not been for the actions of someone on site jumping onto the moving machine and pulling down on the deadman lever, despite being punched and wrestled, lives would have been lost.
"We are thankful that nobody lost their lives or their legs."
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West Yorkshire Police confirmed they had made an arrest.
A spokesman said: "At 10.27am on Saturday police received a report of damage being caused to vehicles at business premises in Bowling Back Lane, Bradford.
"Officers attended and arrested a 52-year-old man on suspicion of criminal damage.
"He was later released on bail pending further enquiries."
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