ONE L OF A BAD DRIVER
35th 18-YEAR-OLD JAILED AFTER DRIVING OFFENCE IN JUST TWO MONTHS
A TEENAGE tearaway committed 35 driving offences in just two months, leaving a trail of destruction behind him.
Victor Sibthorpe, 18, has never had a licence or car insurance – but would be seen day after day at the wheel of a different vehicle in Cheetham Hill and Higher Broughton, in spite of a driving ban.
In the most serious incident, Sibthorpe got stuck between a skip and a house as he tried to escape police, before crashing into two cars, leaving a man and a schoolboy injured, and causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.
Now Sibthorpe, who was 17 at the time of the offences, has been jailed for 16 months.
Manchester crown court heard that Sibthorpe was spotted by officers driving 11 times between August 26 and November 4 last year.
Officers would see him driving one car in the afternoon – and then see him on a different street, in a different car, hours later. The fleet of vehicles he had access to included a Citroen van, a Honda Civic, a Volkswagen Polo, a Ford Focus and a moped.
On October 22 Sibthorpe tried to escape police after being seen parked on Huxley Avenue.
He mounted the pavement and tried to squeeze the Civic between the skip and a house but got stuck.
He then reversed back with such force he crashed into the Peugeot parked behind him and a Toyota Land Cruiser in the road, before driving off.
The driver of the Land Cruiser and his 11-yearold son were left with whiplash injuries.
Undeterred, Sibthorpe carried on driving illegally until police called at his home on December 2. He later admitted failing to stop and dangerous driving, plus eleven offences each of driving while disqualified, driving with no insurance and driving without a licence, bringing the tally of driving offences to 35. Sibthorpe’s lawyer said at the time he thought it was a ‘bit of fun,’ but it was ‘no longer fun’ now he was facing jail. She said he had just become a father, planned to remove himself from ‘negative influences,’ train to work in construction – and ‘obtain a driving licence.’
Sentencing and disqualifying him from driving, Judge David Hernandez told Sibthorpe: “By behaving in this anti-social way you not only put your life at risk but the lives of other, law-abiding citizens. You’re a menace – and the sooner you grow up and realise you have to behave in a responsible fashion the better.”
You’re a menace – and the sooner you grow up and behave in a responsible fashion the better Judge