Man jailed for ramming tractor into Middlesbrough house in revenge attack on rival

A man who drove a tractor and hay baler into a house targeted the property after a rival desecrated the graves of his father and brother, a court heard.

Nathan Blagg, 28, was jailed for seven years and two months, with two years on extended licence, after stealing a Massey Ferguson and driving it into a terraced house in Middlesbrough in May.

Teesside Crown Court heard the house, which was empty at the time, was linked to his rival Luke Lancaster, with whom he was engaged in "an ongoing feud".

Rod Hunt, defending, said he had seen "distressing footage" shared on social media by Lancaster in which he urinated on the graves of Blagg's brother and father, and kicked over a gravestone.

Mr Hunt argued Blagg and others saw criminal damage to a rival as less serious than a physical attack.

Blagg, who stole the tractor from farmer Ian Tate near Kirklevington, North Yorkshire, drove the vehicle at speed for around nine miles before deliberately crashing into the three-bedroom house in Priory Road.

Recorder Paul Reid said "the house essentially had to be rebuilt", while the court heard the tractor needed £56,000 of repairs and the hay baler, which had cost the farmer £30,000, was written off.

The judge said the tractor almost went into a party wall with a neighbouring house.

Blagg admitted aggravated vehicle taking and criminal damage while reckless as to whether life was endangered.

The family living in the rammed property had already moved out of their home of 24 years due to previous attacks.

In a victim impact statement, the woman who lived there said: "I don't tell anyone where I live (now) for fear I and my family will be violently attacked."

She said she was not sure if she would be able to get a mortgage or insure a house again.

A man who lived there added: "We are a hard-working family and we don't deserve to be put through this."

Mr Tate, in his victim statement, said the theft of his tractor had cost him thousands of pounds.

"Farming is hard enough without all this I have been put through," he said.

Blagg also admitted affray in relation to a previous clash in Middlesbrough town centre with Lancaster, who has been jailed for his role in the violence that day.

Jamie Wilson, prosecuting, said Lancaster drove his car into Blagg outside the Probation Service offices, throwing him over the bonnet.

Blagg later told police any violence that occurred in the street on 21 April was in self-defence.

Aggravated vehicle taking

In a separate event, five days after the tractor ramming, Blagg also admitted aggravated vehicle taking after he stole a Jaguar and drove it at speed into a lamppost.

The impact caused the car to spin 180 degrees and threw the streetlight 20m down the road.

Both driver and passenger were seriously injured, the court heard, but despite this, Blagg tried to drive the wrecked vehicle away, even while paramedics attended.

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Blagg was already disqualified from driving when he drove the tractor and when he smashed the Jaguar, the court heard.

While the judge acknowledged that Blagg had been provoked, they referred to the criminal damage charge, relating to the tractor ramming, as "about as serious as it gets, in my judgment".

The offence was aggravated by the "enormous amount of damage", the planning and the vehicle used.

The judge also banned Blagg from driving for seven years.

(c) Sky News 2026: Man jailed for ramming tractor into Middlesbrough house in revenge attack on rival