An uninsured learner driver who ‘tricked’ his friend into letting him borrow his BMW crashed it into the back of another car on the M56 at Hapsford.
Ryan Wyn Jones, of Garreg Domas in Holyhead, then drove off without providing his details in a state of ‘panic’ following the collision on the motorway’s eastbound carriageway on September 11 last year.
Guilty pleas
At a hearing at Chester Magistrates Court on Tuesday (January 19), 20-year-old Jones pleaded guilty to failing to stop and provide details following an accident, failing to report the accident, driving without due care and attention, using a motor vehicle without third party insurance and driving on the motorway while only holding a provisional licence.
Prosecutor Alison Warburton told the court that the BMW Jones was driving ‘ran into’ the rear of a car, which was slowing due to traffic congestion, in the third lane.
Jones, a trained mechanic, and the driver of the other vehicle discussed moving the cars over to the hard shoulder so they could exchange details, but when Jones got back into the driving seat he drove off.
After being arrested, he told police he had momentarily taken his eyes off the road to change the radio station when he drove into the back of the car.
A 'competent driver'
Guy Dodd, defending, revealed that his client – who has no previous convictions – has had more than 100 driving lessons, so is a ‘competent driver in that sense’.
“Effectively, he tricked a friend into allowing him to use his vehicle, telling him he had recently passed his test and was insured,” Mr Dodd said.
“He accepts that he drove off due to panic and drove home.
“He finds it difficult to explain what he did other than to say he felt bored and needed to get away from his home environment and this gave him an opportunity to do that.”
Magistrates disqualified Jones from driving for two years and ordered him to pay fines of £320.
