Teenager crashed his car doing his friends a favour

Connor Harper took his car out at 3am to give his friends a lift home from a party.

But the ‘good deed’ backfired dramatically when he lost control of his vehicle and ran off the road.

At Falkirk Sheriff Court the 19-year-old store assistant was banned from driving for three years and placed on a supervised community payback order for a year. He will also complete 225 hours unpaid work in six months and be subject to a 7pm to 7am curfew for the next four months.

Harper, from Croftfoot Farm, Denny, was warned if he fails to comply with the sentence he will be sent to jail.

The youngster hit a tree while driving between Barnego Road and A872 at Dunipace on October 9 last year causing serious injury to Kyle Brown, Daniel Griffiths, Fraser Shearer and Stephen MacLachlan.

He was convicted of driving dangerously at grossly excessive speed for the road and weather conditions during the hours of darkness, losing control, veering onto the opposite carriageway and striking the tree and had sentence deferred for background reports to be prepared.

In court his lawyer said Harper “regretted” his behaviour and that in their report social workers had suggested there is a low risk of him re-offending. He claimed it was a “one-off” incident and out of character for him.

Sheriff Craig Caldwell said that what happened could frequently result in custody.

He told Harper: “You took your car out at 3am for friends of yours who wanted to avail themselves of your transport.

“This caused very significant injury to the passengers in your car. This can most frequently result in custody. In your case that can be avoided for a number of reasons including you had not been at the party and had not taken drink. You were doing your friends a favour.”

Connor’s progress with the community order will be reviewed on February 23.