A student at one of the top agricultural colleges in the United Kindgom has been convicted of criminal damage after a prank went wrong.
Matthew Hardy, 20, went into fellow student Amanda West’s room at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, as she slept and stole her car keys. He then drove her Peugeot to a nearby Cotswold pub.
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At the pub he allowed people to drive about in her car while her CD collection was thrown out of the windows.
Gloucester crown court heard that the car suffered damage worth £800 due to Hardy’s ‘irresponsible, mean and selfish’ acts.
Hardy pleaded guilty to criminal damage to the car but denied charges of robbing Miss West’s room and stealing her car keys on 24th May last year. He also denied an additional charge of aggravated taking of the car.
Prosecutor Derek Ryder accepted he pleas, saying that while Hardy almost certainly did not have permission to take the keys, it would not be in the public interest to pursue the other charges.
He told the court: “He was charged with the burglary and aggravated taking because the prosecution said he went into her room and took her keys without her consent.
“We were looking at the way he dealt with the property thereafter, in a cavalier fashion with damage being caused and CDs belonging to Miss West beign thrown out of the window.
“If it was a prank, it went far beyond what I would accept as being a prank and almost bordered on what be termed criminal.”
According to Mr Ryder, following the May Ball at the college, Hardy took the keys and drove the car recklessly over a rough road to the Tunnel House.
He continued: “There were girls at the pub who determined themselves ‘OMG Girls’ – the Oh My God girls – and they were part of the high jinks that were taking place that night.
“The defendant was interviewed and said he had taken the car down there, allowed others to drive it and left the keys in the glovebox.
“He said he went drinking in the Tunnel House, then realised he had had too much so he got someone else to drive him back to the house.
“Amanda West woke up, realised her car was missing through various text messages and calls and was able to find out who was responsible.
“She told the police she knew who did it. She was in the process of reporting the matter when the defendant telephoned her on her mobile. He said ‘You allowed me to take your car’ and her immediate reaction was ‘No I didn’t’.
“When the defendant was interviewed there was not a single apology. There was no humility and no apology in his explanation to the police.
“He is a young man with a career ahead of him and this was a matter of high jinks.”
David Mannion, defending, said: “It was not meant to be a prank but it became one and of course he is sorry. He maintains he believed he had permission to use the car.”
Hardy was handed a fine of £350, ordered to pay £650 compensation to Miss West as well as paying prosecution costs of £100 and a victim’s surcharge of £15.