Man fined £4,000 after crashing into corner shop entrance

Friday 08 November 2024

A 70-year-old man who drove a hire car into a taxi and crashed into the entrance of a Checkers Xpress corner shop on Mulcaster Street has been fined £4,000 – and apologised for his "poor driving".

Mark Fisher admitted one count of dangerous driving when he appeared in the Magistrate's Court this week – and was told it was "all by luck" that he had not injured anyone during the incident.

Fisher, who was unrepresented in court, had been in the island to attend a relative's funeral on 8 October.

Pictured: A video of the damage was shared on the 'Jersey Bad Drivers' Facebook group.

Advocate Kate Ridley, prosecuting, told the court that Fisher had been driving down Mulcaster Street behind a taxi.

The taxi driver tried to stop but Fisher hit the back of the taxi, before going into the entrance of Checkers Xpress.

The court was shown CCTV of the crash, as well as pictures of damage to the cars and the shop.

There was no suggestion that Fisher had been speeding, and a breath test showed a reading of 0.

He immediately told police officers that he was at fault and he received credit for his early guilty plea, the court heard.

Fisher said: "First of all I would like to apologise to the court and to emergency services for the time and resources that my poor driving has resulted in, and in particular to the third parties involved: the taxi driver and the shop."

He explained that he had been in Jersey to attend a relative's funeral and had dropped off members of his family before the crash.

Fisher suggested he might have been blinded by shop lights, and said that when he saw the other driver, he tried to speed up in order to avoid a collision.

He said: "I was entirely at fault, there is no doubt about it."

Fisher also thanked the police officers he dealt with for treating him "with the utmost respect".

Assistant Magistrate Adam Clarke gave Fisher a £4,000 fine and disqualified him from holding a Jersey driving licence – but pointed out that given that Fisher did not hold a Jersey licence, this was unlikely to affect him.

The Assistant Magistrate said: "It was in an area where there there might well have been pedestrians.

"I think it is all by luck that no-one was coming out of the shop, for example."