A Wroxall teenager driving a friend’s car panicked when he saw Police after realising he didn’t have his seatbelt on, a court has heard.
Joseph Graham, 18, of St Martin’s Road in Wroxall, appeared at the Isle of Wight Magistrates Court earlier this week charged with driving without due care and attention, driving without a seatbelt and obstruct a constable in the execution of their duty.
Prosecuting, Lauren Stone, told the court that on the 21st December 2023, Police saw a Ford Fiesta being driven in the Tesco Extra car park at excessive speeds. The vehicle aggressively drove into one of the parking lanes before driving through several spaces and heading for the exit.
The court heard how officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but their attempts were ignored. Upon leaving the car park, the vehicle was seen to drive on the incorrect side of the road as he left the supermarket.
CCTV was reviewed and the registered keeper of the vehicle was contacted by way of a P22. The driver then passed Graham’s details onto the Police. Graham was then interviewed by Police.
The court heard how the teenager is currently banned from driving until October 2024 as a result of totting following 2x incidents of driving without insurance and without a licence.
Defending Graham, Nick Muir, told the court that Graham was fixing a friends car and took it out on a test drive. He added that Graham panicked when he saw the Police car as he drove in, immediately realising he didn’t have a seatbelt on.
Magistrates endorsed Graham’s licence with a total of 7 points and fined him £162. He was also ordered to pay costs of £100 and a £65 surcharge fee.
Not difficult to stay on the right side of the law, if you don’t have a licence or insurance don’t drive a car!! Says more about his level of intelligence than anything else.