A MAN who took his mother’s car “out of spite” drove it at speeds of up to 70mph in a built-up area in Worcester.

Benjamin Taylor scraped the Ford Mondeo down the entire side of a parked car before losing control as he tried to turn into Cranham Drive, Worcester.

He smashed through a metal barrier and on to the forecourt of a car dealership, causing £9,000 damage to two vehicles, said Alex Warren, prosecuting.

Taylor, who had been drinking, ran off but was arrested four days later, Worcester Crown Court was told.

He told police he took the car “out of spite because he was annoyed with his mother,” said Mr Warren.

Taylor, aged 24, of Astwood Road, Worcester, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, driving without a licence or insurance, failing to stop after an accident and failing to report an accident.

Judge Andrew Plunkett adjourned the case for inquiries to be carried out about a previous sentence for an unrelated offence.

He granted Taylor bail but warned that a prison sentence would be the likely outcome. The defendant was at his mother’s home in Rose Avenue, Worcester, on August 7 with a friend when she returned from work, said Mr Warren. She bought him 15 cans of lager which they drank along with two women in the conservatory.

After his mother and stepfather had gone to bed, Taylor took his mother’s car keys from the kitchen.

By 3am he was swerving her car along Windermere Drive, Warndon, and scraped the parked vehicle.

A woman woken by the noise saw him swerving into kerbs and told police it was “the worst piece of driving she had ever seen on a public road,” said Mr Warren.

Police went to the mother’s address and she phoned her son on his mobile.

When an officer spoke to him he was abusive and appeared intoxicated.

He had a record of 25 previous offences, mostly for violence and criminal damage.

Defence counsel Sophie Lomas said there had been no trouble since the incident and Taylor was now living with his father, who was keeping an eye on his behaviour.