AN OSWESTRY man's took a family car and caused damage worth more than £5,000 in what a court heard was a "stupid one-off".

Karl Whitbread, 21, from Babbinswood in Oswestry, appeared at Telford Magistrates on Friday where he pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking and vehicle damage to his father's disability car on June 20, 2020.

Aleigha Adams, prosecuting, told the court that Whitbread had been drinking with a family member before taking his father's car to buy more alcohol in Oswestry town centre.

However, he was seen mounting a kerb after he tried to avoid a nearby police car, and the vehicle was later abandoned on its side and severely smashed up in Middleton Road.

Miss Adams said that when Whitbread eventually returned home after his father reported the car missing, he was met by police officers, where he confessed to taking the car, which he repeated later in police interview.

She told the court that he was also above the limit but as he had to attend hospital for treatment to an injury, he had dropped below the legal limit and was not charged.

Defending solicitor Stephen Scully told the court that Whitbread 'did a very silly thing' and that his father – who provided a character reference for his son, who had no previous convictions – said he would not have made a complaint had he known it would have more than a year to get to court.

He also told the court that Whitbread has been through a year of personal issues caused by losing his job because of Covid-19 which briefly left him homeless and living on a sofa in Liverpool.

But Mr Scully added that the family had since been reconciled.

Whitbread received a community order of 200 hours unpaid work for the incident, and was banned from driving for 12 months after magistrates deemed the incident worthy of a more severe sentence.

He was fined £185 and ordered to pay £95 victim surcharge.