Audi driver sped off from police at McDonald's then hit home

Dean McAllister, 27, was given permission to sleep in his friend’s Audi Q3 but was not allowed to drive the SUV, Oxford Crown Court heard.

Ignoring that ban – and the fact he was already banned from driving – he drove the car to a petrol station on February 22 last year, paying for fuel and groceries using a bank card he had found in the vehicle.

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Prosecutor Cathy Olliver said the Grove man then turned into the McDonald’s drive-thru restaurant in Colwell Drive, Abingdon.

Staff at the fast food chain were so concerned that McAllister might be intoxicated that they called the police themselves.

When officers turned up at the restaurant, which is opposite Abingdon police station, the defendant refused to turn off the engine.

Instead, he revved the engine, reversed the Audi past the police car and drove away at speed.

But he was unable to negotiate the junction of Stratton Way and Wootton Road, smashing into the side of a property.

Pictures showed the crumpled Audi at the scene, with cracks inside the property revealing the extent of the damage wrecked by the uninsured driver. It cost more than £100,000 to put right the damage.

Shown the images by Ms Olliver, judge Recorder Samantha Presland said: “It’s definitely something that goes bump in the night.”

McAllister, who was described by a witness as ‘moaning and groaning’ after the crash, chucked an ‘Air Soft pistol’ and his friend’s bank card over a wall then made off on foot. He was arrested nearby.

The defendant, of Arnold Way, Grove, admitted dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking, fraud by false representation and possession of an imitation firearm.

Mitigating, Lyall Thompson said the incident happened at a ‘very low point’ in his client’s life when he was struggling with his mental health and addiction.

His difficulties culminated in a prison sentence last Autumn for failing to provide a specimen after he was stopped by the police.

Mr Thompson said it was ‘unfortunate’ that the dangerous driving that predated the matter for which he was jailed had not been dealt with at the same time or earlier.

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McAllister would benefit from the thinking skills programme recommended by the probation service. Mr Thompson said: “It’s crazy thinking he has here.”

Recorder Presland suspended the 16 month jail time for two years, noting the delay in getting the case before the courts and the fact the defendant had managed to stay out of trouble since his last prison sentence.

He was ordered to do 250 hours of unpaid work, must wear an alcohol abstinence monitoring tag for six months and complete the probation service's thinking skills programme.

He was banned from driving for three years.