Stolen car crashed into Blackburn superbike champion's home

The 17-year-old, who can’t be named for legal reasons, wrote off the £12,000 Ford C-Max when he ploughed through metal garden rails, a tree and shrubbery, a court heard.

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The collision, which ended with the car on its roof, caused damage worth £3,000 to Mr Fogarty’s £500,000 detached home in St Anne’s.

The four-time World Superbikes Championship winner raised the alarm and took pictures of the carnage as Lancashire Police hunted the suspect after the incident, in the early hours of June 7.

The car had been stolen when the teenager burgled a house in Lowton Road, St Annes, while the owner’s daughter and boyfriend were upstairs.

The boy, who had been drinking at a family barbecue and in a park, crashed into Mr Fogarty’s Victory Boulevard home, four miles away, later the same morning.

Jim Mowbray, prosecuting, told Blackpool Youth Court: “The loss of the Ford caused the owner serious problems as it was used to transport her son around. He suffers from cerebral palsy.”

The defendant told police: “I have been very silly. I have been drinking and took the car.”

Gerry Coyle, defending, said: “My client has little recollection of what happened. He feels, and some others feel, one of his drinks may have been spiked. He has no previous convictions and has never been in trouble in his life. He knows he is lucky to be here and not dead or maimed for life."

The 17-year-old admitted dangerous driving, drink-driving and driving without insurance or a licence. He also pleaded guilty to the theft of the Ford and interfering with two other cars, an Audi and a BMW. As well as the driving ban, District Judge Jeff Brailsford sentenced the boy to 12 months in a youth detention centre.

He said: “This was massively serious offending. If you were a year older you would have been at Crown Court and would get a three or four year term in jail.”

Mr Fogarty, 49, declined to comment.