A TEMPING agency worker who stole his girlfriend’s £7,500 car and wrote it off after hitting a kerb and rolling it on to its side was given 200 hours community service.

Richard Charles MacDougall, of Sherbourne Avenue, Westminster Park, was also given an 18 week jail sentence suspended for two years, ordered to pay £200 costs and £300 compensation to the victim Elaine Ross. He was also banned from driving for 22 months.

Following a trial at Chester Magistrates Court, the 29-year-old was found guilty of aggravated vehicle taking, driving without insurance, drink driving and failing to surrender.

Sue Gibson, prosecuting, said: “At about 4pm the victim Elaine Ross drove her £7,500 silver Vauxhall Corsa to her boyfriend MacDougall’s address. She put the car key in her handbag which she left on a settee and spent the evening with the defendant and two friends.

“At about 11pm, the defendant said he was going out to buy cigarettes. A short while after, he returned to the house with blood on his cheeks and around his mouth.”

She told the court a witness had seen the aftermath of the crash, noticing debris and dust on the road and the car on its side.

“He stopped and got out of the car, hearing the sound of breaking glass. Two men, one of which was this defendant, were trying to get out through the broken windscreen, crawling out on their hands and knees before walking away.”

The police were called and MacDougall was arrested after they found the car keys hidden under a loose paving stone in his back garden.

Richard Simm, defending, said: “It is a single incident of bad driving that has led to the car going on its side.”