100mph drink driver - aged just 16

AFTER reaching speeds of up to 100mph, this car was crashed by a drink-driver - who was just 16 years old and had drunk half a bottle of whisky.

The teenager and his girlfriend passenger are lucky to be alive today after walking free from the wreckage in Felixstowe with only minor injuries.

He was later found to be more than three times the drink drive limit.

His mother bought him the car so he could learn to drive, but he took to the wheel only a month after his 16th birthday.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and his girlfriend set off on a trip to Birmingham in the early hours of January 10, the court heard.

The youth, from Great Yarmouth, powered his red Daewoo Lanos with �28 of fuel stolen from a garage in Acle, Norfolk, and headed on to Felixstowe.

A member of public alerted the police after seeing a car being driven erratically and hitting the central reservation barrier on the A14.

The officer who pursued him said the boy was driving at speeds of around 100mph along the Port of Felixstowe road.

At one point the boy slowed down as if to stop for the officer, but sped off again.

When he approached the roundabout near the entrance to Dock Gate No 1, he failed to react and hurtled straight through a sign and careered into trees at around 5am.

The teenager had 117microgrammes of alcohol in 100mililitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mcg.

The youth pleaded guilty to all six charges put before him at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court yesterday.

Prosecutor John Hardwick said: “The only good thing that can be said about it is that this young man is safe, as is the girlfriend.”

When magistrates asked the boy if he wanted to say anything, he declined, but added: “I couldn't really remember where I was going. I was very lucky.”

The defendant was given an interim driving ban and granted unconditional bail until he is sentenced at Great Yarmouth youth court on March 5.