I discovered my £250k Lamborghini had been smashed up via TikTok by man with mental health issues

This was the TikTok clip (click to play above) that was sent to the owner of a £250k Lamborghini - moments after it had been smashed up. Mat Velvick, 33, parked his Lamborghini Huracán while he did some shopping - only to be sent a video of someone smashing it up moments later.

£24,000 of damage to sports car

The businessman was tagged in the short video on social media, titled ‘That’s Ashford for You’, showing local man Darren Babbage causing more than £24,000 worth of damage to the luxury motor in Ashford town centre, Kent.

Describing how the bizarre drama unfolded, Mr Velvick - the managing director for KDC Cleaning - said: “I popped into town to do some shopping, then had three or four missed calls from different people, including my barber, saying the car had been smashed.

Tagged on TikTok

“Then, as I walked back to check on it I got tagged on TikTok. When I got back to the car there were roughly 10 teenagers who had seen it happen - some men caught a video of him walking off and confronted him before I got back”.

Babbage, then aged 47, had been drinking a pint of cider on a table outside the pub when Mr Velvick, who comes from Ashford, pulled up nearby. It was when a group of young girls posed next to the Lamborghini for selfies that Mr Babbage approached with an empty pint glass in hand.

Punched the windscreen with a glass

Folkestone Magistrates’ Court heard on Wednesday that he told an eyewitness “I used to own a Lamborghini but got rid of it because it didn’t suit me”, prompting her to laugh and turn away.

But within seconds she heard a loud smash then vigilantly hit the record button on her phone’s camera to capture the moment Babbage rained down his glass on the roof and repeatedly punched the windscreen. Babbage, now 49, fled the area as onlookers alerted the police, prosecutor Neil Sweeney explained.

With Mr Velvick appealing for witnesses on social media and the seriousness of his actions dawning on him, Babbage handed himself into the police.

‘Worked hard’ to afford supercar

In a victim impact statement read out in court on Wednesday, Mr Velvick said he was “really disappointed and disheartened” about the incident, having worked hard to afford the supercar. Following the damage, which took six months for the Italian manufacturer to repair, he could not take the Huracán to charity events and childrens’ birthday parties - a service he provides free of charge.

Defending Babbage, Simon Pettican approached the bench with a recent prescription slip to help illustrate the severity of his client’s bipolar disorder - a serious mental health condition involving manic and depressive episodes.

Mr Pettican said Babbage “apologises profusely” for his behaviour in September last year, adding: “He acted totally out of character, he has never done anything like this before.” He explained Babbage’s last and only conviction was for a spent drugs offence in 1998, and so he should be dealt with as a man of good character.

Vandal ‘saw red’

The chair of the bench told Babbage, who wore a dark suit in court and walked with the aid of a stick, his actions caused “a huge cost to the owner” who “absolutely did not deserve” what occurred. Babbage, of Wainwright Place, could be seen leaning forward in the dock and appearing visibly relieved when he was handed a 12-month community order and 25 rehabilitation activity requirement sessions. He was also ordered to pay £2,400 compensation at £200 per month, starting January 1.

Speaking after the hearing, Babbage, a former soldier, said: “I was feeling really angry on that day. There had been a problem with my benefits - I just saw red when I was in the pub and the car pulled up. I had only had one glass of cider so I can’t say exactly why I acted like that but I hold my hands up, I did it. It just felt like so many things collided in my life all at once – my mental health wasn’t good. When I realised how serious it was I just thought ‘oh no, what have I done?’.

Victim hopes man gets mental health help

Former Towers School pupil Mr Velvick, who started his first business aged 21, said he wishes Babbage well in addressing his mental health concerns.

He added: "Knowing it was a person with mental health problems, I would much rather he received the help he needs with rehabilitation rather than being harshly punished."