A teenage joyrider attempted to evade cops by catching a train hours after he took his mum’s car and smashed into a stationary vehiclBoe.
Marc Cooper was snared by police as he waited in the early hours to board a train in Huntly.
The 19-year-old had taken the car following a boozy night out and crashed it yards from his home in the town centre.
Cooper told Aberdeen Sheriff Court he had “panicked” and “didn’t know what to do” when he careered into a parked car.
He appeared at his girlfriend’s home, where he told her he had to “leave quickly” before packing a bag and running off.
He pleaded guilty to six charges, including drink-driving, driving without insurance and colliding with a parked car.
Joyrider told girlfriend ‘something had happened’
Fiscal depute David Ballock told the court that Cooper had been “drinking heavily” on November 25 this year when he decided to take the Vauxhall Insignia.
He added: “He made a cup of tea and his mother went to bed, whereby he took the keys to the car and drove down King Street and turned the car onto Deveron Street where he collided with another car.
“The accused left the scene and went to the home of his partner, where he told her that ‘something had happened’ and that he ‘had to leave quickly’.
“He packed a bag and left the property.
“She contacted the accused’s mother and they both went out to search for him as they were concerned that something serious had just happened.”
At around 3am police officers came across the two vehicles on Deveron Road and saw that the accident was recent and there were no occupants inside either car.
The owner of the other car confirmed that his car would have been stationary at the time of the collision.
And the keys to Cooper’s mother’s car were still in the ignition.
Cooper’s mother saw the blue flashing lights, saw the accident and told police this was the car that was missing from her home.
The 19-year-old was then found and arrested at Huntly train station.
‘It was a supremely bad decision’
When tested, Cooper gave a reading of 27 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 22mg.
Representing himself, Cooper, a kitchen porter, told the court he didn’t “really have an excuse”.
Asked why he didn’t report the incident, he added: “I panicked and didn’t know what to do.”
Sheriff Margaret Hodge described Cooper’s actions that night as “a supremely bad decision” adding: “I am taking into account that you are a first offender and you have no previous convictions.
“I’m sure you won’t make such a bad decision in future.”
Sheriff Hodge fined Cooper, of King Street, Huntly, £740 and disqualified him from driving for 12 months.
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