Suspended sentence for 'show off' teen who crashed

A teenager from Peel has been banned from the road after crashing his car just three months after passing his driving test. 

17-year-old Nicholas O'Dell was 'showing off' to his two passengers when his brakes locked and he crashed at the Creg-ny-Baa on January 8th. 

He'd been travelling over the Mountain Road beforehand where he overtook a bus and taxi - his driving was described as a "prolonged series of dangerous manoeuvres". 

The two girls - who'd been shouting at O'Dell to slow down - were both injured; one had to spend five days in hospital with 'snapped tendons' in her neck. 

O'Dell, who's now 18, later pleaded guilty to dangerous driving - at Douglas Courthouse on Monday his advocate said his "eagerness to impress got the better of him".

Sentencing him Deputy High Bailiff Jayne Hughes said it was clear he'd driven "well outside his own abilities" adding "you're very fortunate none of you were killed - a car isn't the place to show off". 

Describing it as a "foolish action by an inexperienced young man" she handed him a 16 week prison sentence which is suspended for two years and ordered him to pay court costs of £50. 

Banning him from the road for two years, and until he's taken an extended driving test, she said a "clear message" had to go out to young people that they couldn't drive in this way.