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A gangland thug who used a stolen tractor as a battering ram and smashed it into a rival's family home has been jailed for more than seven years.
Nathan Blagg, 28, ploughed the Massey Ferguson through the empty terraced house in Middlesbrough at full-throttle, leaving it embedded in the living room and the home's facade obliterated.
Blagg had been embroiled in a feud with criminal rival Luke Lancaster, 31, who was previously filmed desecrating the graves of his opponent's father and brother.
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who → see → father
Lancaster also ran Blagg over in broad daylight with an Audi and chased him with a knife.
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Lancaster → run → knife
In revenge Blagg mounted the tractor attack, targeting a home linked to Lancaster in the early hours of May 9 after stealing the Massey from a farm nine miles away in neighbouring Kirklevington.
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Blagg → mount → Kirklevington
Judge Recorder Paul Reid said the tractor, which was still attached to a £30,000 hay baler, had been 'driven at speed' on the wrong side of the road through Middlesbrough.
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which → say → Middlesbrough
He said: 'CCTV shows the tractor being driven along Priory Road and turning into this property and just driving straight into the front of it, embedding the front of the tractor in the downstairs front room.
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tractor → say → room
Nathan Blagg used a stolen tractor as a battering ram to mount a revenge attack on a gangland rival
Blagg was jailed for more than seven years after the attack in Middlesbrough, which was part of a feud with rival Luke Lancaster
Lancaster was previously filmed urinating on the graves of Blagg's father and brother and was jailed after running over Blagg in an Audi earlier this year
No one was inside the three-bedroom home after a string of previous targeted attacks, though its owner of 24 years said the violence had destroyed her sense of security.
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violence → use → security
She told Teesside Crown Court in a statement: 'Each noise I hear, whether it be day or night, I'm constantly thinking the worst.
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I → tell → worst
I do not tell anybody where I live currently, for fear that my family and I will be violently attacked or worse.
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family → tell → fear
When I'm out and about in the community doing everyday chores or out for a walk, I'm constantly looking over my shoulder.'
The tractor's owner, farmer Ian Tate, said its repair was estimated at £56,000 and his hay baler had been written off.
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baler → do → 56,000
To keep his business running Mr Tate was forced to hire a £1,000-a-week replacement tractor and said the ordeal caused him 'no end of stress'.
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ordeal → keep → stress
'Farming is hard enough without all this I have been put through,' he said.
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he → put → this
Blagg, who was on bail at the time of the tractor attack, was arrested on May 14 when a stolen Jaguar he was driving crashed into a lamppost at speed, causing the car to spin 180 degrees and throwing the streetlight 20m down the road.
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car → arrest → road
Despite both Blagg and his passenger suffering serious injuries, he tried to drive the wrecked car away even after paramedics arrived.
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paramedics → suffer → car
Blagg was disqualified from driving by the time of the Jaguar crash, having already been barred before the tractor attack.
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Blagg → disqualify → attack
The stolen Massey Ferguson was left embedded in the home's living room and came close to the party wall with a neighbouring house
After crashing into the lamppost, police seized Blagg's phone and found searches for criminal damage sentencing guidelines.
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police → steal → guidelines
Rod Hunt, defending, said Blagg had reacted in anger after Lancaster urinated on his father and brother's graves and kicked over a gravestone.
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Lancaster → defend → gravestone
The judge also acknowledged Blagg had been provoked after Lancaster threw his rival 'over the bonnet' of his Audi during an attack on April 21.
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Lancaster → acknowledge → April
Blagg admitted affray during the clash outside the Probation Service offices but said any violence was in self-defence, while Lancaster was jailed for his actions.
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Lancaster → admit → actions
Referring to the tractor attack, Mr Hunt said: 'In the strange logic of the underworld, the targeting of property is less serious than running over Mr Lancaster, or stabbing him.
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targeting → refer → him
But that seems to have been what was going through Mr Blagg's mind: "I'll do something serious to property, but I will not do something serious to a person."
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I → seem → person
Mr Hunt added: 'The desecration of the grave and being hit by that car affected his thinking.'
Blagg, of Addington Drive, Middlesbrough, admitted a slew of charges including aggravated vehicle taking and criminal damage.
He also admitted charges of affray, aggravated vehicle taking, driving while disqualified and possession of class C drugs.
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He → add → drugs
Blagg appeared unmoved as he was jailed for seven years and two months, appearing by video-link from HMP Nottingham with his arms crossed.
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arms → appear → Nottingham
A £30,000 hay baler was still attached to the tractor during the attack and was written off, while the cost of repairing the Massey itself was an estimated £56,000
He will serve two years on licence upon his release after being classed as a 'dangerous offender'.
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He → attach → offender
Judge Reid said the tractor attack was 'as serious as it gets'.
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it → say → ?
He continued: 'Anyone could have been injured - that includes anyone who might have been in the house but also people next door.
'People who could well have been asleep upstairs and severely injured by a collapse of the house next door.
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who → continue → house
Fortunately that did not happen.
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that → happen → ?
It costs far more to rebuild a house or partly rebuild the house than it does to build it from scratch and the damage is going to be huge.'
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damage → cost → scratch
Lancaster was convicted in July for running over Blagg and chasing him with a knife.
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Lancaster → convict → knife
He admitted grievous bodily harm and was jailed for 46 months.
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He → admit → months
Dan Cook, from Middlesbrough CID, said: 'To steal a tractor from a farm, to then be driven at high speed towards Middlesbrough and rammed with extreme force into a house shows the lengths Blagg will go to instil fear and violence, all without a thought or care for residents and the wider public.
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Blagg → say → residents
While it is lucky no one was inside that house at the time, Blagg was not aware of this or if those inside neighbouring properties were home when the tractor was rammed.'
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tractor → ram → properties
The Aporia
