Student from Skegness who crashed car into home is banned

Mitchell Craig Knowles, 18, of Roseberry Avenue, admitted driving with excess alcohol and aggravated vehicle taking, as well as driving without insurance and with only a provisional driving licence, when he appeared at Boston Magistrates Court.

Jim Clare, prosecuting, said the occupant of no 10 Sandbeck Avenue was woken up by a loud bang at 7.45am on October 28 and realised that a car had been driven into the wall of her house, damaging the brickwork and the main door.

He said witnesses had seen the car travelling at speed and crashing through the hedge and into the house, before the driver, who was Knowles, ran away.

Mr Clare said that Knowles, whose mother owned the car, was found by police in nearby Beresford Avenue and after a positive breath test he was arrested.

He said that Knowles gave a reading of 56 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

When he was interviewed he said he had got home after drinking through the evening and just decided to take his mother’s car but had no memory of the accident.

Mitigating, Asad Aziz said Knowles had no previous convictions and was a student. “He openly and honestly told the police what he could recall,” he said “and very much regrets his foolish, stupid actions.”

He added that Knowles had been drinking until the early hours in a Skegness night spot and had had more to drink when he got home.

The magistrates banned Knowles from driving for 15 months and ordered him to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work for the community.

He was also fined £120 and ordered to pay £170 in costs and charges.