A Laxey teenager who crashed a car then left the scene has been banned from driving for six months and fined £500.

Callum Taylor hit a wall, causing £2,835 worth of damage, then left the Vauxhall Corsa on a nearby farm.

The 18-year-old admitted careless driving, failing to report an accident, having no driving licence, and having no insurance.

Prosecuting advocate James Robinson told the court that police were called to Ballacollister Road in Laxey on April 16 after a report of a wall being damaged.

When officers arrived they found part of a bumper and number plate at the scene but no car. The Vauxhall Corsa was later found a short distance away on a farm.

Police traced the owner, who was not Taylor, and when they went to his address he said that he had been driving, while Taylor had been a passenger. However, a couple of days later, Taylor contacted police and said that he had been driving the car.

During a voluntary interview, the teenager said that he and two friends had gone for a drive. He said that they had decided that he would drive as he was the person who had had the most lessons.

Taylor said that he was driving at 50 or 60mph when he lost control of the car and hit the wall. He said that one of his friends had contacted their mother and arranged for the vehicle to be recovered.

Mr Robinson said that Taylor’s parents had already paid the £2,835 for the damage to the wall.

The court heard that he has no previous convictions.

Defence advocate Paul Glover said: ‘To say Mr Taylor has been stupid is putting it very lightly. He has learnt an incredibly valuable lesson.

‘Fortunately no-one was seriously injured. His parents are making him reimburse them for the wall.’

Mr Glover asked for credit to be given for his client’s guilty pleas and admissions to the police.

Magistrates fined Taylor £100 for careless driving, £100 for having no insurance, £100 for having no driving licence, and £200 for having no insurance. They also endorsed his licence with 14 points which meant he was disqualified under the totting up process.

Magistrates chair David Nash told Taylor, who lives at Callow’s Croft: ‘You could have been involved in an accident with someone else. It was fortunate only a wall suffered.’

He must also pay £50 prosecution costs.