Bluewater car drifters banned from driving after roundabout stunts.
09:00, 17 January 2020
updated: 09:25, 17 January 2020
Two "idiot" mechanics have been banned from getting behind the wheel after drifting their cars at Bluewater.
Levi Thorne, 26, and pal Mason Reed, 23, decided to use one of the Greenhithe shopping centre's roundabouts to perform stunts.
As a result both have now been disqualified from driving for a year and are now expecting to lose their jobs for their "stupid juvenile behaviour".
A judge watched CCTV footage of the vehicles narrowly missing other vehicles, losing control and on one occasion hitting a verge.
Reed, of Top Dartford Road, Hextable and Thorne of Hazel Road, Erith, faced a possible jail sentence after admitting driving dangerously on January 25 last year.
Their "joyriding" exploits only ended when shopping centre security guards arrived - and both men apologised
Judge David Griffith-Jones QC told them: "You were showing off to each other and to friends and you lost control of your vehicles..fortunately no-one was injured.
"You have both expressed regret and remorse and I think you have learned a salutary lesson but now there will be other consequences for you."
Thorn's barrister Jake Carr told Maidstone Crown Court as a result of the driving ban he will now lose his job as a mechanic because he was expected to drive cars to carry out MOTs.
He is now planning to become a shelf-stacker after receiving a "severe wake-up call" over his "stupid juvenile behaviour", he added.
Reed, who represented himself at the sentencing hearing, handed in a letter to the judge outlining the prospect of also being sacked.
He said: "I am extremely sorry and I regret what I did and I just got carried away."
Prosecutor Matthew Hogetts told how the two men who work together, had been out for the evening at Bluewater and decided to use their vehicles to drift around a roundabout.
Both men, who admitted driving dangerously, were each ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work for the community and remain at their homes from 8pm to 6am for the next three months. They were also ordered to pay £170 court costs.
Police would not release the CCTV footage when approached by the Messenger.
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