A HANDYMAN who abandoned his car and fled after crashing it on a roundabout, thanked magistrates for showing him leniency when he appeared in the dock

Thomas Wood disappeared from the crash scene and later claimed his car had been stolen, Swindon Magistrates Court was told.

Prosecutor Pauline Lambert said police were alerted to a car that had crashed on the Covingham – Nythe roundabout in Dorcan Road on September 9 last year.

The driver had fled leaving the keys in the ignition, but witnesses had taken photographs of him before he left.

When they looked inside the car officers found a small bag of cannabis. An area search was carried out to find him and police went twice to the registered keeper’s address in Bodmin Close.

Then at 9.20am Wood called police to say his vehicle had been stolen. On September 29 he was interviewed and claimed the crash was not his responsibility because he had not been driving.

But he later changed his mind and emailed police to tell them ha had been at the wheel and to apologise for the crash.

Interviewed again on October 21 he admitted the cannabis found inside the car was his and he used it to self-medicate because he had a problem with his spine and suffered pain.

He told them he had been smoking the class B drug since he was 14.

Ms Lambert said a suspended prison sentence of 18 weeks had been imposed on Wood in July 2016 for offences including driving while disqualified, possession of class B drugs and bilking. The latest offence had been committed before the 18-month suspension ran out.

Wood had also served a prison sentence 10 years before for dangerous driving.

Wood, aged 55, of Bodmin Close pleaded guilty to Failing to stop after an accident, failing to report it, obstructing police and possessing cannabis.

Mark Glendenning, defending, said: “Although he gave a silly story when he was first interviewed, subsequently he gave the real story.”

He accepted that he was in breach of his suspended prison sentence, but there had been no more offending since the crash.

Wood was working as a handyman all over the area, but was currently off sick because of his back problems.

Since the incident he had gone to the doctor and was now properly medicated and although he did still use cannabis it was only rarely.

The magistrates decided not to trigger the suspended sentence and fined him £280 with an added £115 in court costs and victim surcharge. They also put five points on his driving licence, giving him a total of 11.

“Thank you for your leniency,” he said to the bench as he left the dock.