Penrith teen gets driving ban after three passengers hang from the outside of his car

A Cumbrian teenager who drove his car with "someone lying across the bonnet" has been banned from driving.

The boy from Penrith was 17-years-old when he dove his car with three passengers hanging from its outside.

CCTV caught the teen driving through a supermarket carpark in town at about 7.45pm on 20 April this year.

Appearing in Carlisle's Youth Court on Friday 22 July the boy was told that footage of the incident made a magistrate think "you idiot."

Prosecutor George Shelley told the court how the car was driven “with someone lying across the bonnet.”

He added that the teen proceeded to drive his car on to the upper level of the car park with three passengers “hanging on to, or outside, the vehicle.”

Mr Shelley, showed the CCTV footage to the court, but said: “The Crown concede it is not the worst form of dangerous driving the courts have ever seen.”

The teen admitted to dangerous driving and a second charge of allowing another 16-year-old to use a vehicle without the necessary insurance earlier in the year.

This offence took place in mid-February on Gilwilly Road. At the time the 17-year-old, who was the registered keeper, was in the front passenger seat with three other male youths in the back.

Jeff Smith, was giving mitigation for the teen.

Referring to the incident shown in court he said: “The car has now been sold and doesn’t provide the temptation this young man fell for on the screen (at Sainsbury’s).”

The teenager told the court he regretted his actions on 20 April.

His mother added: “He was going through a bit of a bad couple of months at the time. He has turned himself around. He has had a great two months (since).”

Carlisle Youth Court heard of employment the teen had secured and a hobby he was pursuing.

He was also heard to have engaged well with a youth offending team and voluntarily attended sessions to address substance misuse.

Lead youth justice Keith Southward told the teen: “The first thing I said when I saw that (CCTV) was ‘you idiot’, which I think most responsible people would.”

The teen was made subject to a four-month referral order. He was banned from driving for a year, and must take an extended re-test.

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