Babysitter admits joyride smash

Robertson admitted the charges at Perth Sheriff Court

A teenage babysitter injured two schoolgirls and another driver after stealing a car and going on a high-speed joyride, a court was told.

Perth Sheriff Court heard that Michelle Robertson, 18, wrote off one car and badly damaged another during the escapade, in which she also ripped up more than 20ft of fencing, smashed a post-box and knocked over a lamppost.

Sheriff Gordon Liddle placed Robertson on probation for a year and disqualified her from driving for 18 months.

Single mother Robertson, 18, had been babysitting for an 11-year-old girl when she took the keys for the car from her mother's kitchen.

No driving licence

They belonged to her mother's partner, who worked for a garage in Perth, and was due to deliver the car back to its owner the following day.

The teenager put the 11-year-old girl in the car and then picked up the 14-year-old schoolgirls who lived nearby.

She told them that she had passed her test and had been given the car as a reward for getting her licence.

But Perth Sheriff Court heard that Robertson had never sat a test and had no driving licence.

Once she collected the girls she then left them screaming in fear as she drove round a housing estate at high speed.

Out of control

She raced across one mini-roundabout without slowing down and then struck Mr Guthrie's car at a second roundabout.

The Renault 19 spun out of control and smashed up the post box and lamppost, before Robertson got out and fled the scene.

Robertson of High Street, Perth, admitted driving dangerously in the town between 13 May and 15 May, 2000.

She also admitted taking and driving away the car, and driving without a licence or insurance.

Sheriff Gordon Liddle placed Robertson on probation for a year and disqualified her from driving for 18 months.