Drunk teen hung on to car bonnet during chase
ADRUNK teenager was filmed hanging on to a car bonnet during a high speed chase through
Rossendale. A court heard that Oliver Barton climbed onto the bonnet of a Volkswagen Polo after a drinking session with friends and it was then driven at speeds of 50mph.
The car was broadcast live on social media as it sped around Bacup, Stacksteads and Waterfoot. The court heard that the weather conditions were ‘extremely bad’ at the time of the incident with ‘very thick snow on the ground’ and zero degree temperatures.
The incident in January happened during a longer chase between two Polos with one of the vehicles reaching speeds of 90mph, before a ‘serious collision’ involving one of the cars which left three people injured, the court heard
ADRUNK teenager was filmed on social media hanging onto a car bonnet during a high speed chase through Rossendale, a court heard.
Oliver Barton climbed onto the bonnet of a red Volkswagen Polo after a drinking session with friends and it was then driven at speeds of 50mph around Bacup, Stacksteads and Waterfoot.
Prosecutor Tracey Yats told Burnley Magistrates Court that the weather conditions were ‘extremely bad’ at the time of the incident with ‘very thick snow on the ground’ and zero degree temperatures.
The incident happened during a longer chase between the red VW Polo and a black VW Polo shortly after midnight on January 24 this year with one of the vehicle’s reaching speeds of 90mph, the court heard.
Police were called to Bocholt Way in Rawtenstall after a ‘serious collision’ involving one of the Polo’s leaving three people injured.
Ms Yates said an officer at the scene was approached by a male eye
witness who said both Polo’s were ‘racing’.
She told the court: “He could see a torch light on in the vehicle indicating a mobile phone was being used to record the proceedings.
“There is audio on the video from the passenger in the vehicle saying they were going at 90mph and ‘they’re never going to catch us’.
“Also at some point during the driving of that vehicle Oliver Barton, who was initially a passenger, gets on the bonnet of the vehicle and hangs onto the lip.
“The vehicle is driven at around 50mph with him hanging on the bonnet.
“You can hear a passenger on the vehicle shouting ‘stop, slow down, you’re going to kill him’.
“The video continues to show the driving through a number of streets in what looks like very thick snow due to the time of year.
“The passenger on a number of occasions shouts ‘slow down, wow, slow down’ and on a number of occasions is screaming.”
Ms Yates told the court that the video was posted to social media site Snapchat and before the chase videos were also taken of the people in the cars ‘drinking pints in a number of pubs and showing pictures of those pints’.
Apprentice electrician Barton, 19, of Pleasant View, Waterfoot, pleaded guilty to getting onto a motor vehicle in motion on a road.
Defence solicitor Mark Williams said Barton, who has no previous convictions, is a ‘sensible young man who acted in an extremely foolish manner and can only apologise for what he did’.
He told the court: “The defendant was there with his friends. He wasn’t put up to doing it and he accepts responsibility for his own actions.
“He had been in the vehicle, he had been drinking, got on the bonnet, the driver drove a distance and I can’t dispute the circumstances or the speeds.
“The vehicle then stopped, he got off and got back into the car.
“That was the part he played in this. He hasn’t driven the vehicle at any time or committed any other more serious offences.
“He accepts it was a very foolish thing to do. He could have been seriously injured or worse.
“In the cold light of day he recognises that.”
Magistrates said it was ‘foolishness to the highest level’ and fined Barton £100 and ordered him to pay £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.
Co-defendant Joseph James Clayton, 19, of Schofield Street, Waterfoot, was driving the black Polo and pleaded guilty at the hearing to dangerous driving.
Ms Yates said the magistrates sentencing powers were ‘insufficient’ and his case was sent to Burnley Crown Court for sentence.
She said: “This was quite a prolonged period of driving at those speeds aggravated by the conditions.”
Lucas Blanchard, 19, of Roundhill Lane, Haslingden, is charged with dangerous driving and drink driving and Connor Fleming, 20, of Crabtree Buildings, Whitewell Bottom is charged with dangerous driving and using a mobile phone while driving.
Both men did not enter any pleas at the magistrates hearing and were granted bail to attend Burnley Crown Court on August 27.