A 20-year-old man thought he was being “sensible” when he got behind the wheel of a crashed car to drive it home.

However, when Marcus James Tisdall appeared at Fermanagh Court he admitted taking his friend’s father’s Vauxhall Corsa without consent and driving it without insurance.

Tisdall, from Glenview Park, Tempo, was fined £250 and given eight penalty points.

He escaped a driving ban after the court heard he had been offered a job as a dumper truck driver at a relative’s quarry in Cookstown.

District Judge Nigel Broderick said: “He drove this vehicle seven or eight miles with no insurance and anyone who does that I would normally disqualify.” However, he said that if Tisdall had an offer of employment “I might not disqualify him but I must be satisfied it’s a genuine offer”.

He adjourned the case to allow Tisdall the opportunity to prove the offer of a job was genuine.

When Tisdall produced the proof the District Judge said that given how difficult it was to get a job for the first time he would not disqualify him.

The court had heard that around 1.30am on February 17, last year, a member of the public contacted police to say a red Vauxhall Corsa was being driven erratically through Enniskillen. It had skidded to a halt at a red traffic light in Belmore Street before heading towards the Hollyhill Car Park. It was subsequently seen by police operating a vehicle check point in Lisnaskea. As the Corsa approached the officers the driver pulled into a parking space before turning and accelerating off towards Maguiresbridge.

The prosecutor said that on February 19, police received a report that a Vauxhall Corsa had crashed into a field at Bunnahesco Road, Lisbellaw. The owner of the car said he had left it parked outside his home. He asked his son about it and was told that another man had been driving. Following further inquiries police spoke to Tisdall. He said he was collected in the car in Lisnaskea a few minutes before it was spotted by the police.

The court heard that two of the owner’s sons and a third youth had been in the car with Tisdall.

Defence barrister Steffan Rafferty confirmed that the Corsa belonged to the father of a friend of Tisdall.

“He did not take the car from the house,” Mr. Rafferty told the court.

The barrister explained that the car had crashed into a hedge and the occupants went to a nearby house for help. Ropes were used to pull it out of the ditch and Tisdall then drove it back to the owner’s house.

“It was a shock to them all when it went off the road into the ditch,” said Mr. Rafferty. “It seemed to him the sensible option to drive it home. He had a full licence.

“It seemed to him the most sensible thing to do at the time as he was the eldest of the four,” added Mr. Rafferty.