TWO men went on a drunken orgy of destruction with a 15-tonne JCB, causing more than £30,000 of damage on a Newport building site, a court heard.

Jamie Lillygreen, 20, and Richard Thompson, 27, caused 'mayhem' after an all-day drinking session in March.

The pair were locked up after pleading guilty to criminal damage at Newport crown court.

The court heard that Lillygreen, of Hoskins Street, Newport, and Thompson, of Comfrey Close, Newport, broke into the building site near Kimberly Park on Malpas Road, close to junction 26 of the M4, and hot-wired a 15-tonne JCB on the evening of March 6.

Prosecutor Matthew Roberts told the court that the jobless pair used the JCB to smash a scaffolding walkway, steel hut, shed, and fencing, before pushing some of the wreckage into the nearby canal.

They also destroyed a smaller, one-tonne JCB, crushing it into the ground, and smashed in the roof of a dumper truck. The court heard that a passer-by witnessed the destruction and phoned Gwent Police. Officers arrived and saw the men trying to escape.

Both initially denied the charge, blaming youngsters.

Andrew Jones, defending, said both men were suffering from a drink problem, and called the attack an 'episode of madness', which was not premeditated.

He said the incident would have a 'long-lasting effect on their lives'. He said they were aware of the severe cost to Vale Contractors and both offered sincere apologies to company director Gordon Sivyer, who attended court.

Recorder Peter Griffiths said: "You went into this site and caused mayhem. The total damage was something of the order of £30,250." He said the public would be 'outraged' with anything less than a custodial sentence.

Lillygreen was sentenced to 10 months in a young offenders' institution, and Thompson to 12 months' jail.

* Speaking outside court Gordon Sivyer, owner of Vale Const-ruction, said he was horrified by the level of destruction, which he estimates cost his business close to £35,000.

He said: "I am pleased they've gone down. This was simply wanton destruction."

The company was refurbishing the weir near Kimberly Park as part of the Malpas flood alleviation scheme.

"They were lucky they didn't kill themselves," said Mr Sivyer.

"They ran over the medium pressure gas main and the engineer said they could easily have been blown themselves up, as well as most of Newport losing its gas supply.

"Whoever worked the 15 tonne excavator smashed the smaller machine to pieces and then tracked over and over it."

He said: "It's not just the loss of equipment, it's the inconvenience to the men and the work schedule, which was delayed for a couple of days."