AN unqualified and uninsured driver took his father’s Mercedes and crashed it into a parked car before fleeing the scene.

Michael Beattie is now behind bars for what he called “a moment of madness” because he was on a suspended prison sentence at the time.

The 34-year-old was jailed for a total of eight months, and thanked the judge at Teesside Crown Court for keeping the sentence so low.

Beattie, of Longhirst, Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, admitted aggravated vehicle taking, having no insurance and driving without a licence.

He had been given a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years, in October 2016, for an affray and making threats with a bladed article during a row with neighbours.

On August 20 this year, Northumbria Police received a report from his father that his silver Mercedes had been taken without his consent.

The car was seen that night in the Middlesbrough area, before it collided with a Volkswagen Polo and being found outside of a house in Ashfield Avenue in Linthorpe with Beattie walking away.

He immediately told police he had been driving and has never passed his test, said prosecutor Emma Atkinson, who told the court he tested positive at the roadside for alcohol, but “no charges flowed from that”.

As part of the suspended sentence two years ago, he had to undergo an alcohol treatment programme, but booze was still a problem, said his lawyer.

Kelleigh Lodge, mitigating, said Beattie – who turned up at court with a huge plastic bag full of his belongings – was suffering post-traumatic stress disorder after finding his cousin dead following an overdose.

Miss Lodge said: “He didn’t try to hide anything from the police, and put his hands up and admitted it – a moment of madness, he calls it.

“As a result of the incident, his father will not speak to him. He does not have contact with him at all. He resides with his mum.

“He has suffered with severe depression for 15 years and with PTSD since 2009. He is on quite substantial medication, but uses alcohol as a coping mechanism.

“He has come to court prepared, on the basis that he would be receiving a prison sentence today.”

Judge Stephen Ashurst was told that Beattie’s father was left £250 out of pocket with the damage to his car, and the Polo owner had to pay a £450 excess on his insurance.

The judge said: “It was really quite an unnecessary bit of driving. You didn’t get your father’s permission and you ended up in a crash. I am going to activate the suspended sentence, but not in full.”

Beattie said: “Thank you, Your Honour.”

Judge Ashurst continued: “You were given a chance in October 2016. You were given a restraining order and you have complied with that, but the success of the alcohol programme is a moot point.

“Drink is still a problem you are going to have to tackle in the fullness of time, otherwise you will be coming to court again with another bag of your clothes.”

He imposed four months for the driving offences, and four months of the suspended sentence, and a roads ban for two years after Beattie is released.