A TEENAGER, who didn’t have a driving licence, drove at 80mph in a bid to evade pursuing police before flipping the car.
Adam Hughes, who had not passed a driving test and had no insurance, drove off after officers spotted him driving slowly around Sainsbury’s car park in Spalding in the early hours.
Hughes, who believed he was wanted by officers, went through two red traffic lights and at one stage turned off his car lights as he made his way to Holbeach.
Christopher Gabbitas, prosecuting, said “His driving became erratic with the vehicle swerving across both carriageways.
“He continued along the A151 towards Holbeach. He achieved 80mph at one stage.”
Gabbitas said a safety camera in Whaplode clocked Hughes at 72mph and he went the wrong way around a roundabout.
While in Holbeach he drove at 70mph in a 30 limit but eventually lost control on Foxes Low Road and crashed into a lamp post before the car flipped over finishing in the garden of a bungalow.
Hughes and his two passengers escaped serious injury.
Hughes (18), of Crown Avenue, Holbeach, last week at Lincoln Crown Court admitted dangerous driving and having no licence or insurance on February 15. He also admitted theft of petrol.
He was given 12 months at a young offenders’ institution and banned from driving for two years.
He was also ordered to pass an extended retest before being allowed a driving licence.
Judge Sean Morris told him “It is only by good fortune that neither you nor your passengers were killed or seriously injured. There must be a custodial sentence in this case.”
Andrew Coley, defending, said that at the time Hughes was effectively homeless and bought the car to sleep in.
He said that when Hughes saw the police officers he panicked and drove off believing his “home” would be taken off him.