News Hand-brake turn caught on camera
A former Goole College student who was caught laughing on CCTV as he performed a hand-brake turn in a car park has been fined by town magistrates.
James Hanlon (19) performed the hand-brake turn not realising he was being watched by a CCTV controller.
He was later arrested after police were informed.
Mr Hanlon - a trained first-aider who once did voluntary work on the reception desk at Goole Police Station - appeared at the town's magistrates' court this week where he pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention.
The court heard that Mr Hanlon - who had a friend in the passenger seat at the time of the incident on December 5 last year - pulled into a car park in Wesley Square in his Vauxhall Astra. He drove into an empty parking bay next to a Fiat Punto which had just been parked in the adjoining bay.
Mr Hanlon, of Jacksonville, Goole, then proceeded to perform a hand-brake turn, causing his car to turn sharply at an 180-degree angle and "at speed".
Julie Laverack-Glanville, prosecuting, said the Vauxhall just missed the Fiat Punto.
It then stopped suddenly and ended up near the Punto. Mrs Laverack-Glanville told the court that Mr Hanlon "appeared to be laughing".
Police arrived to arrest Mr Hanlon and he admitted he should have driven more slowly, but that his laughter was a "nervous laugh".
Shaun Pinchbeck, defending, said Mr Hanlon, who works as a forklift-truck driver, spun his car around so that the back of the vehicle ended up just a few metres from the Punto.
He said that it was "odd" that an otherwise "sensible, law-abiding young man" should do such a thing and added that it was a "momentary aberration".
Magistrates fined Mr Hanlon £75 and ordered him to pay £45 prosecution costs.
They also added three penalty points to his licence and made him pay a victim surcharge of £15.
Published on 8th May 2008 in News.
Add to: Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit
Comments
There are currently no comments
Comments are closed for this article.