Suspended sentence for house crash Birmingham teen Published duration 10 July 2015

image copyright Leigh Robinson/PA image caption Harry Bishop, 19, managed to drive the car about 100m before crashing

A teenager who crashed his father's £100,000 car into a house has been given a suspended sentence and had his pocket money stopped.

Harry Bishop, 19, from Birmingham made a "spur of the moment" decision to take the Audi R8 after a drunken night out, the city's crown court heard.

Unable to handle the car, he smashed it into an elderly couple's home, shifting part of the house off its foundations.

Bishop admitted aggravated vehicle taking and driving while drunk.

He also pleaded guilty to driving without insurance and was given a two-and-a-half year driving ban.

Birmingham Crown Court heard he had been punished at home - having his pocket money stopped and being made to do "extra chores". He was also banned from a holiday abroad with friends.

The crash, on 2 May, happened just 100m from Bishop's home in Netherstone Grove in Sutton Coldfield.

The owners of the house he crashed into, Janet and Harold Perry, both in their 70s, have since spent £25,000 on rebuilding their porch.

Bishop was described to the court as "quiet, thoughtful and hard-working".

In mitigation, Naomi Gilchrist told the court he walked home after the crash to explain himself to his father.

image copyright Leigh Robinson/PA image caption The car caused damage estimated at £25,000

Recorder Anthony Warner told Bishop he had shown "fantastically poor judgment" but that a prison sentence would have a "disastrous effect" on him.

He said: "I accept the impact of these proceedings on someone like you has been significant, and thus in itself has already brought to you a degree of punishment: the shame and disgrace of having to be brought to the crown court in public and face sentence for these offences."

Mr and Mrs Perry, who were uninjured but "shaken" said they felt "no ill-will" towards Bishop, who took them a bunch of flowers and a box of chocolates days after the crash.