£1,000 fine for Audi driver who fled scene after crashing through fence in South Shields street

Paul James McLuskey’s Audi was involved in a smash in Coston Drive in South Shields on Friday, March 30.

The married dad said that a dog running out into the road caused him to swerve off the road.

McLuskey, of Bents Park Road in South Shields, spoke to a witness who saw the accident take place and came over to check on him, but he then ran off.

He was later charged by police with failing to stop after a road accident and also failing to report a road accident.

McLuskey, a 38-year-old who works at the Nissan Shipping Agency at Port of Tyne, pleaded guilty to both charges.

Prosecutor Rohanna Haque told a hearing a South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court: “A witness says that at 12.10am she was walking on the footpath and hard a loud bang.

“She looked to her right and noticed a black Audi has crashed through fencing.

“She was concerned about the driver.

“He alighted from the car.

“She asked the defendant if he had been drinking and he replied “yes”.

“The witness said the defendant got back into his car and began revving the engine.

“He then ran off.”

The court heard that in interview McLuskey said: “All I can remember is a dog running out in front of my car and I swerved to avoid the dog.

“I was breaking but the car did not stop.

Geoffrey Forrester, mitigating, told the hearing: “He had had something to drink earlier and was driving to see a friend.

“He lost control of the vehicle in circumstances which in fact the police accept now meant that he is blameless.

“He accepts that he left.

“He thinks that he was in a panic because he was thinking “this could affect my job”, but he does not really know.

Chairman of the bench Dorothy Gibson fined McLuskey a total of £1,252 and endorsed his driving licence with seven penalty points.