A CAREER criminal who damaged up to 30 headstones during a drug and drink-fuelled wrecking spree at a graveyard was yesterday given a four-year jail sentence.

Jason Griffiths, 40, who is said to have an obsession with smashing gravestones, was arrested in March after tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage was discovered at Thimblemill Cemetery in Smethwick, West Midlands.

Griffiths, who gave his address at a previous hearing as Cowley Road, Oxford, was jailed at Wolverhampton Crown Court after admitting criminal damage.

Judge John Warner heard Griffiths had previous convictions for dishonesty, violence, and public order breaches, and had been sentenced by the courts on at least 70 previous occasions.

At the time of the latest offence, Griffiths had just been released from a prison in Oxfordshire and had travelled to the West Midlands by train.

Judge Warner said the desecration had caused “enormous hurt and heartache”.

The court was also told that Griffiths, who will be released on licence after serving half of the four-year sentence, laughed about the damage when he was detained by police.

Timothy Harrington, defending, said: “In the sober light of day he now realises the distress and the anxiety and the hurt that his actions have caused.”

Speaking after the case, Pc William Pearce, of West Midlands Police, praised local people for launching a fundraising campaign to help repair the damage.