Heartbroken Claire Holley smashed her boyfriend’s car into the bowling alley where he worked - after he ditched her on Facebook.
She took his silver Ford Focus, revved the engine, then rammed it into through two security bollards and the glass double doors, causing £14,000 of damage.
Terrified staff and customers fled for cover at the Hollywood Bowl in Middlebrook, Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester.
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The car came to rest inside against one of the customer service counters, where her newly ex-boyfriend Davy Jones worked. Hours earlier Jones, father of her child, had ended their relationship.
Holley, 31, was sentenced to a nine-month jail term at Bolton Crown Court on Wednesday, suspended for two years, after she pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at an earlier hearing.
She was also banned from driving for 18 months after admitting drink driving. She had 50 microgrammes of alcohol on her breath — the legal limit is 35mg.
Geoff Whelan, prosecuting, told the court that Holley and Mr Jones had been in a two-year relationship and have one child together.
He added: “She dropped Mr Jones off at Hollywood Bowl at 5pm. She texted asking him not to leave and to come back home. She had written things on Facebook saying she was heartbroken and crushed. He turned his phone off.”
Holley, of Seddon Street, Little Hulton, Bolton, left her children, aged 11 and five, with Mr Jones’ sister and set off in Mr Jones’ silver Ford Focus after drinking half a bottle of wine and a couple of large vodkas.
Witnesses saw her parked up and revving the engine before ploughing through bollards and the glass entrance of the bowling alley at speed.
The car came to a halt after crashing through a cafe into a metal barrier. Nobody was injured.
Mr Jones was seen to run towards the car and say: “You have wrecked my car”.
Two off-duty police officers stepped in to help and were attacked by Holley.
PC Catmore was bitten and PC Longman was scratched on his left hand, the scratch drawing blood.
Andrew Cunliffe, defending, said Holley was intending to kill herself, not to hurt Mr Jones or others.
Recorder Robert Crawford, sentencing Holley, said: “I think you were very emotionally upset.
“You have missed going to jail by the skin on your teeth. You are a very lucky woman. I hope you appreciate that.”
She was also sentenced to a four-month curfew, to remain at home between 8pm and 7am.
At the time eye-witness Stephanie-Kate Burrell, aged 22, from Darwen, Lancashire, was outside the front door when the car smashed into the doors.
She said: “I was just about to shut the car door when I heard the loudest noise of the revs. This car came past and it went straight through.
“There were alarms going off and at first we thought it was an armed robbery. It was just crazy. There was glass and bumpers and everything everywhere. There were people in there bowling and they all started running out. They were screaming and shouting and no-one knew what to do. It was total panic.”
Richard Hope, aged 23, had just left the nearby Vue Cinema with his girlfriend, Katey Giffard, when the incident happened.
He said: “The entrance roof was hanging off and it looked like it was going to fall off. It was just a mess. It was a scene of devastation.”
CREDIT: Cascade News