Frightened passengers in a car which was driven at speeds of up to 60mph by an Ipswich man before it crashed into a tree were crying and begging him to slow down, a court has heard.
Reece Reid was trying to sell the Mercedes for £800 and offered to take three men who were interested in buying the vehicle for a test drive at lunchtime on April 4, Ipswich Crown Court was told.
Laura Kenyon, prosecuting, said 23-year-old Reid told the men he was going to drive fast and then drove at speeds of up to 60mph on roads around the Belstead and Chantry areas of Ipswich.
She said one of the frightened passengers told Reid to slow down and the others were crying because of the way the car was being driven.
Eventually Reid crashed into a tree near St Joseph’s College.
Miss Kenyon said witnesses described the car “rearing up” at a 45 degree angle and feared it was going to topple over before it came back down.
Following the collision Reid moved the car off the road and then shouted at the three passengers to run away.
He had subsequently reported the car as stolen and was later arrested by police who found him hiding in a cupboard, said Miss Kenyon.
He told officers he had let three men drive his car and they had crashed it.
Reid, of Downside Close, Ipswich, admitted dangerous driving on April 4, attempting to pervert the course of justice, failing to stop after an accident, driving without insurance and driving without a licence. He also admitted sending an offensive communication.
He was jailed for a total of 58 weeks and banned from driving for 30 months.
Sentencing him Judge John Devaux said: ”You were driving at excessive speed in a built up area.”
Miss Kenyon said the offensive communication offence related to abusive and threatening text messages and phone calls made by Reid to a woman.
Roger Thomson, for Reid, said his client had driven the Mercedes out of Downside Close on to Birkfield Drive and into Stone Lodge Lane. “He accepts he was driving too fast,” he said.
He said the messages sent by Reid to a woman were abusive rather than threatening.
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