Wrecking spree yob jailed for 4 months

Aug 21 2008

A TEENAGER was last week caged for four months after going on a drunken wrecking spree at a Hamilton car showroom.

Sean McDowell caused an estimated £13,000 of damage in the early morning raid at Reg Vardy in Johnstone Road on July 17, a local sheriff court heard this week.

The 16-year-old drove a Hyundai car off the forecourt, hitting Mercedes and Volkswagen cars. Gates and a barrier were also damaged before the car crashed into a wall in nearby Silvertonhill Avenue.

Police arrested McDowell a short time later in Portland Place, less than a quarter of a mile from the garage.

He had got into the forecourt of the Mercedes garage about 1.30am and drove the Hyundai around the compound at high speed.

After doing wheel spins he drove the car through the 16 foot by eight foot steel gates and a barrier at the forecourt entrance.

Shortly after that, the car left the road at Silvertonhill Avenue and smashed into a wall.

During the incident the Hyundai clipped five Mercedes cars and a Volkswagen Lupo parked in the forecourt.

They all suffered damage to their bodywork.

The £13,000 damage bill included estimates of £2500 for one of the Mercs, £3000 for the gates and £1000 for the barrier.

McDowell, whose address was given as the Queen’s Park Hotel in Glasgow, had admitted taking and driving a car away without the owner’s consent, dangerous driving and causing damage to gates and a wall, and driving without a either a licence or insurance.

He also pleaded guilty to drinks-driving after returning a breath-alcohol reading of 113, almost three times the legal limit.

His not guilty pleas to four other charges were accepted by the Crown.

McDowell, who had previously stayed in homeless units in Lanarkshire, had been on bail when he committed the offences.

Last Friday at Hamilton Sheriff Court, Sheriff Danny Scullion sentenced McDowell to a total of four months’ detention in a Young Offenders’ Institution for taking the vehicle without consent, dangerous driving and drinks-driving.

One month of the sentence was for the bail aggravation.

McDowell was also disqualified from holding and obtaining a driving licence for 12 months for dangerous driving, and for three years for driving while over the limit.

Sheriff Scullion also disqualified him from driving until he had passed the extended driving test and ordered the endorsement of his licence.

McDowell was admonished on the charges of driving without a licence and driving without insurance.