Teenager who drove golf buggy to McDonald’s drive-through banned from roads for a year

Jamie Elliot had been out drinking when he took vehicle from local club

Jamie Elliot, 18, arrives at Northallerton Magistrates Court (PA Wire/PA Images)

A teenager who took a golf buggy and drove it to a McDonald’s drive-through for a burger has been banned from the roads for a year and fined.

Jamie Elliot was over the limit when he started driving the “propelled vehicle” in Richmondshire Walk, Catterick, with a passenger on board in the early hours of 29 May

Magistrates in Northallerton, north Yorkshire heard that the 18-year-old took the propelled vehicle from Catterick Golf Club, in North Yorkshire, in the early hours of 29 May and drove it a mile to the restaurant after a night out drinking.

North Yorkshire Police stop golf buggy (Facebook / North Yorkshire Police)

The youngster – described in court as “hard working and industrious” – was said to have shown “genuine remorse” the morning after the incident that received widespread coverage after police posted a picture online of the buggy and described it as the “most unusual job of the night.”

Officers joked on Twitter that they had managed to “avoid a high-speed pursuit”.

Elliot, of Richmond, admitted to one count of driving while unfit through drink, and was handed the 12-month driving ban, as well as being ordered to pay a total of £235 in fines and costs.

He was also told that by magistrates that, should he complete a rehabilitation course by January, the ban would be reduced.

The prosecution also said the teenager had to open a secure shed in order to access the vehicle and had, therefore, been given a caution by police for taking without consent.

Nick Woodhouse, in mitigation, said: “Given that he was driving a vehicle that is not capable of any high speed, with no traffic on the roads, a financial penalty might be considered a fairer punishment than a disqualification.”

He added the youngster was “co-operative with officers at the scene and fully accepts what he has done.”