An unlicensed driver who undertook another motorist performed the manoeuvre so incompetently he not only smashed into her car but shunted it on to the wrong side of the road.

A witness following behind told the court Karl Ronald Benson then took off at speeds of up to 80mph through the 30mph limit past King William’s College, accelerating past other cars.

The 29-year-old, whose white Audi was found to have a catalogue of faults, was also uninsured, Douglas magistrates were told.

For the prosecution, advocate Mark Benson said the victim was driving her blue Ford Focus at about 40mph past the airport when she spotted the defendant, Karl Benson, in her mirror, some distance away.

’As she moved in left at the end of the two lane section she felt a heavy jolt.

’The car that had previously been behind her attempted to under take and hit her near side. She was pushed right, to the centre of the road and feared she would be pushed in to oncoming traffic,’ Mr Benson said.

As the victim pulled over in shock, the defendant accelerated away from the accident scene, overtaking numerous vehicles on the approach to Janet’s Corner.

Another driver said he saw the Audi pull back to the left after overtaking him. There was a momentary flash of brake lights then it belched out a plume of smoke and the engine note rose as it attempted to undertake the Focus.

The other motorist’s statement said: ’I saw the other driver steer to the right, pushing the other car over, before accelerating away at excessive speed, making no attempt to stop, passing a number of vehicles at speeds up to 80mph.’

Benson’s driving attracted attention from a routine police patrol as it flashed across the roundabout by Janet’s Corner. But when police found the Audi parked up on the sea front a few minutes later, he denied any connection with it.

Moments later, when police received a radio message to look out for the Audi in connection with the earlier hit-and-run accident, they again accosted Benson on Malew Street.

This time, a woman who was with him said they were involved in a collision and added his driving had been ’stupid and dangerous’ and she had ’feared for her life’.

Vehicle examiners at the test centre found a number of faults with the car, including defective tyres and the windscreen smeared with bitumen, obscuring the view.

Benson, of Copse Hill, Saddlestone, admitted driving dangerously, having no driving licence, insurance or car tax, failing to stop after the accident or report it and driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition.

All the offences happened during the evening of December 11.

Benson’s defence advocate, Andrew Marshall, told the court his client admitted the charges on the basis that he was only doing 60mph (in the 30mph zone), not 80mph, and that the other driver did not indicate left, as he undertook her.

’There is no evidence to say he was actually driving dangerously before the incident. And he had not been drinking,’ Mr Marshall said.

’He was only doing 10mph above the speed limit when he overtook the two cars and he did hesitate before attempting the (undertaking) manoeuvre, so there was some level of caution exercised. He failed to realise that the lanes were merging.’

He said Benson steered right to avoid mounting the pavement and he did not believe there were any on-coming cars at the time.

Sentencing him, magistrates’ chairman Caroline Convery said: ’You approached the Ford Focus, accelerated and overtook on the inside as the two lanes were merging at the end of the dual carriageway.

’You collided forcing the other car partly on to the oncoming carriageway. Fortunately there was no further collision.

’You then drove off at speeds of up to 60mph in a restricted area, overtaking other cars in an attempt to leave the scene of the collision and avoid detection. When first approached by police you denied it.’

He received 14 months’ imprisonment concurrently for dangerous driving and failing to stop or report the accident.

For having no licence or insurance, his licence was endorsed; no separate penalty was issued for having no car tax or for the condition of the vehicle.

His prison sentence will be suspended for two years and for 12 months he will be under supervision from the probation service.

He was banned from driving for 18 months, must pass an extended driving test and pay costs of £125.