Facing jail, the woman who drove fiance's van and belongings into harbour

12 April 2012

A woman who flung her fiance's possessions into the back of his van, drove it to a marina and watched it roll down the slipway into the sea has been told by magistrates that she faces jail.

It comes after her fiance cancelled their August wedding and a £2,000 Caribbean honeymoon.

Emma Thomason was enraged when her partner refused to return home, choosing to stay out drinking for the rest of the night.

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Emma Thomason flung her fiance's possessions in his works van and drove it to the marina before letting off the handbrake and watching it slip into the water

In a fit of anger she rounded up all of Jason Wilson's worldly goods, threw them into the back of his white works van and set off to take revenge.

She parked the van at the top of the slipway, released the handbrake and watched it roll slowly into the water, where it bobbed up and down for a few minutes before sinking.

Thomason pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking and driving without third party insurance.

"This was an impulsive act, an act of frustration on her part and an act she now bitterly regrets," said her solicitor, John Dugan.

"She is a mother who has endured a number of years of being put upon unfairly and this is simply the straw that broke the camel's back."

The couple, who are both 24 and have two young children, had lived together for seven years and were looking forward to marrying when the row erupted during a night out on May 13, Whitehaven magistrates in Cumbria were told.

They had been drinking with friends at a local pub when Thomason told him that it was time they returned home to their children who were being cared for by her mother.

Mr Wilson refused and when issued with an ultimatum by Thomason simply asked her to leave the van keys where he could find them.

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The van sank in Whitehaven harbour after Emma Thomason took her revenge on her fiance for staying in the pub

"Mr Wilson wanted the benefits of a normal family life while retaining all the freedoms of being single," Mr Dugan said.

"He works as a plaster's mate and brings home approximately £250 a week, at least £100 of which he spends on entertaining himself, leaving the family in a lot of debt.

"On the day in question Mr Wilson had wanted to go out and watch the football on TV in the pub. The child care arrangements were that his mother would watch the children from four until 6.30pm and then her mum would pick them up and have them until eight.

"It was a Sunday and both Mr Wilson and Miss Thomason had work the following morning, so that seemed an appropriate arrangement and she met up with him to go home at 8pm."

But Mr Wilson said he didn't want to go home.

"This was not a question of him wishing to stay an extra five or ten minutes. He said he intended to stay out the whole night, leaving her with the responsibility of looking after the children, as he had done on many previous occasions.

"She asked him to come home again and told him that if he didn't come home that was it, intimating that this was the last straw and that if he failed to come home she would see it as him ending the relationship.

"He turned around and told her to leave his van keys where he could find them.

"She went home and got the van, put some of his belongings in the back of it and drove it to the slipway, where she let it go into the sea."

In addition to Mr Wilson's clothes, CDs, DVDs and other possessions there was £2,050 worth of machinery in the van, itself worth more than £6,000.

Thomason, who said she had only drunk two half lagers all day, fled as police arrived. They contacted Mr Wilson's boss who phoned for an explanation.

Mr Wilson, who was not in court, has since moved out of the family home. He cancelled the August wedding and the Caribbean honeymoon which had been booked only 24 hours before the incident.

He claims he was left with just one pair of jeans, overlooked because they were in the washing machine.

Magistrate Ian Killip told Thomason: "You are of previous good character, and you have admitted this offence at the earliest opportunity, for which you will be given credit in due course.

"However, in spite of this we consider this to be a very serious offence for which we must consider a custodial sentence as a serious possibility.

"You deliberately loaded belongings into the back of a van which you knew you had no permission to drive and which you knew contained valuable plastering equipment, and you deliberately let it go into the harbour."

Thomason was released on bail and will be sentenced on June 27.

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