Three teenage R-plate drivers who were involved in a pile up have been hit with fines totalling more than £2,000.

Oliver Condon, Rostyslav Pavlenko, and Alastair Ronan, all pleaded guilty to careless driving.

Condon was fined £750, while Pavlenko and Ronan must pay £650 each.

Pavlenko and Ronan also had their licences revoked, as they are still in their R plate period, but Condon escaped a revocation as his R plate period has now passed.

Prosecuting advocate Roger Kane told the court that the three 17-year-old defendants were driving their cars, along with a fourth driver, who was not involved in the accident, on February 28, at 10.50pm.

He said that all four drivers and their passengers were friends, so they were in a convoy, heading from Ballabeg to Ballasalla.

Condon was leading the way in a Ford Fiesta with one passenger, while the driver not involved in the crash was following him.

Pavlenko was third in line, with three passengers in a Renault Clio, while Ronan was behind him, in a Ford Fiesta, with two passengers.

A passing police patrol heading in the opposite direction reported that they were driving ‘a little too quickly’.

As they went through Cross Four Ways in Ballasalla, Condon lost control of his Fiesta on a left-hand bend, spinning and ending up across the carriageway.

The second driver managed to swerve around him, but Pavlenko’s Clio then hit Condon’s car.

Ronan, who had only passed his test three days beforehand, then crashed his Fiesta into a wall, before hitting Pavlenko’s car.

A driver coming in the opposite direction had to slam on his brakes to avoid hitting Condon’s vehicle.

All three drivers were on R plates at the time, but Condon’s R plate period has since expired.

They appeared before Deputy High Bailiff Rachael Braidwood recently.

Condon, who lives at Queen’s Road in Port St Mary, was represented in court by advocate Helen Lobb.

Ms Lobb said that her defendant had not driven for five months after the accident and had then only gone out driving with his parents supervising, before driving on his own again.

Pavlenko, who resides at Palace Road in Douglas, was represented by advocate Lawrie Gelling.

She said that her client had tried to maintain control of his car, but being third on the road, had been faced with a very challenging scenario and a very chaotic scene.

Advocate Paul Glover represented Ronan, who lives at Malew Street in Castletown, and said that there had been around 10 people in all the cars in total, but none were injured, which he said spoke volumes as to the level of the incident.

He said that there had now been six months passed with no further incident.

Condon was given seven penalty points, but now holds a full licence, while Pavlenko and Ronan were given six points, which takes them above the six point limit for R plate drivers.

All three were also ordered to pay £50 prosecution costs.