A 16-year-old boy took his friends on a joyride around Forres in a car that he stole and then crashed into another vehicle.
The teenager, who is now 17, had driven at speed and gone the wrong way over a roundabout before the collision.
As smoke and airbags hissed around him, the boy – who cannot be named for legal reasons – fled the scene but he was eventually traced by police officers.
The teenager then failed a roadside breath test for alcohol but later sobered up enough to pass another one at the police station the following morning, after being released from the hospital.
Elgin Sheriff Court heard that the boy was captured on camera in incriminating video of the incident that was recorded by one of his passengers.
On June 6 last year, the young offender took a silver car from an acquaintance, who had left it unlocked with the keys on the seat outside Lidl supermarket in Forres.
Just before 10pm, a mobile police patrol spotted the moving car with steam coming from it.
Procurator fiscal Sharon Ralph said: “A witness working nearby heard two loud bangs, the screeching of tyres and an engine revving.
“She then left her workplace and saw the accused through the driver’s side door. The airbags had been deployed.
“The accused then began slowly walking towards the police car with his hands on his head appearing to be in shock.”
But as officers moved towards him, the boy made off.
Video showed boy driving carelessly
The stolen car’s registered keeper was traced and he explained the car had a broken radiator so it had been left where it was with the key on the seat and doors unlocked.
He was able to identify the boy from the officers’ description and confirmed he hadn’t given him permission to take it.
Videos, which were shared online, showed the boy driving the car carelessly.
The now-17-year-old was accompanied to court by his mother and admitted taking a car without consent, careless driving and driving without insurance.
Not guilty pleas to driving while only holding a provisional licence and failing to stop at an accident were accepted by the Crown.
‘Extremely foolish’
The boy’s defence agent Matthew O’Neill previously told the court it was “an extremely foolish set of circumstances”.
He said: “The owner was known to my client and it’s his position that this individual had been consuming alcohol.
“My client and others thought it would be sensible to take the keys from him. Once they were in his possession he made the foolish decision to drive the car.”
After considering pre-prepared background reports, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis fined the boy, of Forres, £1,325 and banned him from driving for one year.
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