A 17-YEAR-OLD new father who crashed his car into the porch of a west Warrnambool home and then fled has lost his driver’s licence for three months.
The L-plater, who cannot be named because he is aged under 18, pleaded guilty in a court, was not convicted, fined $350 and ordered to pay $480 compensation.
The youth was driving an unregistered car while not accompanied by an experienced driver on October 7 last year when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the front porch of a Laverock Road home.
He failed to report the accident, left the scene and caused $480 damage.
A defence solicitor said the youth was driving the car to a friend’s home to work on the vehicle when he lost control and crashed.
The youth’s mobile telephone was left at the accident scene which was handed to police.
The solicitor said his client went to the home the next day, offered to help make repairs and then went and made admissions to police.
The youth and his partner have a three-week-old baby.
A magistrate said the case was an example of how badly things could go wrong, that the youth knew he shouldn’t have been driving and now faced serious charges and would have to pay compensation.
“You need to grow up very quickly,” the magistrate told the youth.