A man in a hoodie went to a security company and smashed two van windows in a revenge attack.

Then when tree surgeon Liam Dellaway was caught by police officers he told them: “I have the man’s wheel nuts in my pockets!”

The 23-year-old revealed he had taken them from a van adding: “The man deserves this (as) he made my father’s life a living hell.”

Dellaway, of Oaktree Road, Ashford, told police he had intended taking the wheels and setting the van on fire.

Canterbury Crown Court heard how Dellaway had been spotted acting suspiciously near the premises of K9 Security in Ellingham Way in Ashford in March this year.

Police found the van raised by a jack with two of its windows smashed.

Judge Rupert Lowe heard Dellaway confess: “The man deserves this, he made my father’s life a living hell.

"I was going to take the wheels and set the van on fire.

“He gave my dad so much stick before he died. The man is going to have to get injunctions against me. I ripped his infra-red camera off the wall.”

Officers searched him and discovered 10 wheel nuts in the pocket of a body warmer.

“The man deserves this, he made my father’s life a living hell..." - Liam Dellaway

The court heard how in January, Dellaway was stooped in a Ford Ranger which had been stolen on New Year's Eve and had its number plates changed.

In February, after being released on bail, he was stopped in Tally Ho Road, Shadoxhurst, driving a truck towing a tanker with £2,500 worth of stolen oil inside.

The court heard how he had entered a building site in Ashford that evening and used mechanical diggers to free the tanker and hitch it to his vehicle. He hadn’t got very far when he was pulled over by police and subsequently arrested.

Dellaway admitted a variety of charges including handling stolen goods, which featured £1,200 of welding kit, a chainsaw and socket set.

He also admitted burglary, theft and causing criminal damage, and admitted to stealing tools from a business in Riverside Industrial Estate, Hythe on Saturday January 6 after his fingerprints were left at the scene.

He was sentenced to a total of 28 months.

Judge Lowe told him some of his stealing was professional and he seemed think laws didn't apply to him.

"You carried out what you yourself called a revenge attack," he said.

"The law does apply to you that's what living in a civilized country means.

"If you want to spend the rest of your life in and out of prison you know what to do."

Investigating officer Detective Constable Darren Brough said: "Dellaway has repeatedly broken the law and has shown he is willing to take things that don’t belong to him, regardless of the consequences.

"In these cases local businesses have been left significantly out of pocket as a result of his actions."