A FATHER of two from Worcester who ran from the scene after causing up to £5,000 of damage by crashing into a house while on the way back from a funeral has been banned from driving.

Daniel Gardner appeared at Worcester Magistrates Court where he pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention and failing to stop after the crash in Prestbury Close, Warndon, on Tuesday, December 3, last year. 

Peter Love, prosecuting, said the 26-year-old was giving friends a lift home after the funeral of a friend at about 4pm when his car mounted the kerb at the junction of Winchcombe Drive and Prestbury Close, demolished a wall and hit the front of a porch area of a house. 

“Mr Gardner and his passengers got out and ran from the scene,” he said.

“A witness reported hearing a screeching of tyres and seeing a cloud of smoke.”

He said the residents of the house called police, who identified the car as belonging to Gardner and went to his house about an hour and a half later, where he gave a breath test showing he was not over the legal drink-drive limit.

Skid marks on the road showed he would have been travelling at about 47mph in the 30mph zone. 

David Adams, defending, said Gardner’s mind was not fully on the road as a result of having attended the funeral earlier that day. 

“He panicked, very simply,” he said.

“He didn’t know what to do and stupidly he left the scene.

“It was always going to be the case that the police would catch up with him.

“Since that time he tells me his life has effectively been on hold as he awaits this court case.”

Describing the story as “a tale of woe” Mr Adams said Gardner, who lives with his partner and their two children, had long wanted to join the Army.

His applications had been delayed, however, as no one who has six or more penalty points on their driving licence is accepted.

Banning him from driving for six months, district judge Nigel Cadbury described the incident as “a relatively bad case of driving without due care and attention”.

He added: “There’s clear evidence of you excessively exceeding the speed limits with others in the car and your mind on other things.

“You should not have been behind the wheel of a car at all.”

Gardner, of Tolladine Road, was also fined £110 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.