1:00pm Sunday 5th July 2009
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A YOUNG car firm boss crashed an Aston Martin into a vehicle and then drove off on only three wheels, with sparks flying as he went, a court was told.
Thomas George Preston, 28, hit a Mondeo, in which an occupant was injured.
Police, who scrambled the force helicopter, followed a trail of damage in the road from the accident site down the road and found the Aston Martin in a barn at a nearby farm.
The passenger was arrested in a field and Preston went to the police station by arrangement within days.
Burnley Magistrates heard how before the collision Preston had overtaken a woman driving with her child and mother and she thought he was clocking up about 80mph.
The defendant, who has never been in trouble before and is due to marry on July 11, admitted dangerous driving, failing to stop after an accident and failing to report it.
Preston, of Malham View Close, Barnoldswick, was given 18 weeks in jail, suspended for a year, with 240 hours unpaid work. He was banned for 15 months, must pay £50 costs and was ordered to take an extended retest.
The bench told him he had been reckless and the harm that could have been caused was quite high.
Andrew Robinson, prosecuting, said at about 6.50pm on May 31 a woman was driving towards Barnoldswick on Barnoldswick Road, Blacko, when an Aston Martin passed her at speed. She commented to her family: "Look how fast he's going."
She came to the junction less than a minute away and saw an accident had happened involving the Aston Martin. One person was injured and was at the side of the road. The prosecution could not say precisely how the accident happened.
Mr Robinson said in the accident, the Aston Martin lost one of its wheels completely but Preston carried on for one and a half miles. A witness at a pub saw sparks flying from the vehicle and she said the defendant had had a beer there earlier.
Police followed the damage on the road to a nearby farm. Officers found deep gauge marks in the road surface and said the missing wheel would have severely diminished the Aston Martin's steering, handling and braking capabilities.
The prosecutor said Preston later went into the police station and made a statement. He admitted he had been the driver and accepted he had not stopped.
Graeme Tindall, for Preston, described him as solid and dependable. He said the defendant had gone into the family business, starting as a car valeter and later became business manager and sales controller for four years.
He left the business in 2007 when it was sold and set up Hippo Vehicle Solutions with his father. The company now employed 18 people and was relatively successful..
The Aston Martin had been acquired through the business and would have been sold.
Mr Tindall continued :"He is used to driving high performance cars. It is not a case where it was the first time he had got a fast car and he was out having a whale of a time."
The solicitor said the vehicle the defendant had overtaken had been doing 40mph. He did not accept he was going at 80mph. The accident was not as a result of the dangerous driving. The dangerous driving was after the accident. Preston had driven away in a blind panic as he had never been in trouble before.
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