A man who poured petrol into a car and threatened to set it on fire while his partner and her father were in it has been jailed. Mark Whyatt, 41, of Tyburn Close, Arnold, pleaded guilty to affray, possessing a bladed article in a public place, and criminal damage when he appeared before Recorder Stuart Sprawson at Nottingham Crown Court in February. He was sentenced to 16 months in jail last Wednesday (10 April).
The incident took place at the Tesco Express car park in Ashgate Road, Hucknall, on 7 February. It was the culmination of a violent series of events which began 90 minutes earlier when Whyatt went to the victim’s house in Radford and caused a significant damage to a communal door.
Later, he was in the women’s car with her and her father as it drove to Hucknall. As she was driving, he pulled the handbrake causing the car to veer from the road and mount a kerb.
Armed with a knife, he then forced the woman and her dad to stay in the vehicle and drive on to the Tesco Express car park. He collected a can of petrol from the boot, poured it into the vehicle and threatened to set his victims on fire.
“Whyatt’s behaviour that day was utterly appalling and will have caused significant alarm and distress to anyone who was unfortunate enough to witness it”, PC Ashley Lewis, of Nottinghamshire Police, said. “I am pleased he has now received a jail sentence for what happened and sincerely hope he uses this experience to address the root causes of his offending and get the support he needs to make this his last spell in custody.”
