Warsop car smash man had been through a bad year, court hears

Lucan John Docherty, 26 of little John Avenue,appeared at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, where he pleaded guilty to failing to stop after a road accident, using a vehicle without insurance and failing to give his name and address and vehicle details.

Police found Docherty’s badly damaged black Audi TT abandoned on Clumber Street, Warsop at 7.45pm on June 25.

There was damage to another vehicle at the scene and a partially demolished wall.

The court heard Docherty later told police when he had been driving on Clumber Street, he had put his foot on the brakes and they had completely failed.

He had smashed the car into another vehicle and a wall.

He said he had been unable to face things after the smash and did not contact the police until some time after the accident.

Defending, Simon King, said: it had not been a good year for Docherty.

He had lost his job as a transport manager, his relationship had broken up and he had found himself in debt to the tune of £15,000. He had problems with anxiety and depression and had stopped taking medication. For a time he had taken illicit substances and then stopped.

For reasons he was unable to explain he had swapped his original Audi A3 car - which he had on finance - for the Audi TT, but he had not got round to swapping the insurance.

The court heard Docherty had swapped a perfectly good car for one which was now in the scrap yard.

The Audi TT was not only written off in the crash, it was found to be a previous write off. It was impounded and crushed.

However there had been one positive note in the whole affair.

Docherty knew the residents at the property, whose wall he had demolished. They told him they had intended to knock the wall down anyway and if he cleared the bricks away it was OK with them. He already had six points on his licence and the further six imposed by the court totted up to 12. Docherty was disqualified from driving for six months, fined £120 with £150 criminal court costs.