A teenager who took friend’s car on a joyride in someone else’s broken-down car wound up in hospital after crashing into another vehicle.
The then 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was incriminated by a video that was shot by one of his passengers as he drove around Forres.
The video showed him driving at speed and going around a roundabout the wrong way before crashing into another vehicle as smoke and airbags hissed around him.
He left the scene of the accident but was eventually traced.
The teenager then failed a roadside breath test before being taken to hospital – only to have sobered up enough to pass it at the police station the following morning, Elgin Sheriff Court was told.
Procurator fiscal Sharon Ralph said the boy took the silver car from an acquaintance, who had left it unlocked and with the keys on the seat, outside Lidl supermarket in Forres on June 6 last year.
At just before 10pm police on mobile marked patrol saw the car, with steam coming from it, on the move.
Mrs Ralph said: “A witness working nearby heard two loud bands, the screeching of tyres and an engine revving. She then left her workplace and saw the accused through the driver’s side door. The airbags had been deployed.
“The accused then began slowly walking towards the police car with his hands on his head appearing to be in shock.”
But as officers moved towards him, the boy made off.
Screeching, hissing and revving
The car’s register keeper was traced and he explained the car had a broken radiator so it had been left where it was with the key on the seat and doors unlocked.
He said it was not meant to be driven, and when he was able to identify the boy from the officers’ description, he confirmed he hadn’t given him permission to take it.
Later that night, the teenager was traced, cautioned and charged.
He failed a breath test for alcohol and was taken to Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin for checks. By the time he completed the drink-drive procedures at the police station the next morning, he was below the limit.
“Thereafter videos were found online showing the accused in the vehicle along with others and it’s quite clear that the car was being driven in a careless manner as described in the charge,” the fiscal added.
“He stated to officers that he had taken the keys on June 5 as the car’s owner had been drinking. However, that does not accord with what the owner said.”
The now 17-year-old was accompanied to court by his mother and admitted taking a car without consent, careless driving and driving without insurance.
Not guilty pleas to driving while only holding a provisional licence and failing to stop at an accident were accepted by the Crown.
‘He had been drinking himself’
The boy’s defence agent Matthew O’Neill said: “This is an extremely foolish set of circumstances and something he doesn’t appear to have involved himself in since this incident.
“The owner was known to my client and it’s his position that this individual had been consuming alcohol. My client and others thought it would be sensible to take the keys from him. Once they were in his possession he made the foolish decision to drive the car.”
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov told the solicitor: “It’s all the more concerning because he didn’t have a full licence and he had consumed alcohol himself.
“It’s just a matter of good fortune that it was clear when he took the further test or he would be facing disqualification before even passing his test.”
She deferred the sentencing of the boy, of Forres, until next month to allow for background reports to be prepared.
For all the latest court cases in Elgin as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our new Facebook group.
