A teenage scooter rider has been fined £1,150 for careless driving and having no insurance.

Kieran Lane said he took the bike, which belonged to a friend, as a prank but he ended up crashing it.

Magistrates also endorsed the 19-year-old’s licence with eight penalty points.

Lane, who lives at Osbourne Grove, Douglas, had previously pleaded not guilty to the careless driving charge but guilty to the no insurance offence.

However, on Thursday, he changed his not guilty plea to guilty.

Prosecuting advocate Rachael Braidwood told the court how police and an ambulance were called to an accident at the Old Castletown Road in Port Soderick at 7.35pm on July 21 last year.

Lane was at the scene with a black Yamaha XC125 on its side but he was uninjured.

He was arrested and taken to police headquarters then given five days to produce driving documents.

The registered keeper of the bike was a friend of Lane’s but he did not want to make a complaint even though he confirmed that the scooter had been taken without his permission.

The owner said that he had left the bike outside a house in Castlemona Avenue where he had been with a group of friends, including Lane.

He then saw Lane ride off on the bike and his friends laughing.

The owner said he thought Lane would come straight back but then 30 minutes later he received a phone call from him telling him he had crashed.

Lane was said to have paid his friend £900 for the bike as it had been written off.

When interviewed he told police he had taken the bike for a short ride as a prank but had lost traction due to grit on a corner.

The court heard that he had no previous convictions.

Defence advocate Paul Rodgers said that his client was only 18 at the time of the incident.

’It is now almost a year ago and in that time he hasn’t come before the court again,’ said the advocate.

’He decided to play a prank and accepted that it was a gross error of judgement.’

Mr Rodgers went on to say that Lane was doing a business studies course online and wanted to start his own business.

Magistrates fined Lane £650 for having no insurance and £500 for careless driving.

He must also pay £300 prosecution costs, due the case progressing to the pre-trial review stage after the not guilty plea, and will pay all amounts at a rate of £20 per week.