By Agencies 1:23PM BST 25 Apr 2013
A mechanic who wrote off a £220,000 Lamborghini supercar on an MoT brake test has been fined £280.
Owner Stephen Leahy with his £220,000 Lamborghini supercar Photo: Cascade
Andrew Mitchinson, 37, crashed the prized 205mph 6.2 litre Murcielago - owned by millionaire hotel boss Stephen Leahy - leaving it damaged beyond repair.
He also wrote off a stationary Ford Focus, belonging to mother-of-two Marianne Kitchen, when he skidded and lost control on a wet road, South Lakeland magistrates court heard.
He was fined £280, ordered to pay court costs of £350, pay a victim surcharge of £30 to Mr Leahy and given six penalty points.
Afterwards both car owners blasted the sentence. Ms Kitchen said: "Basically all he has got is the equivalent of two speeding tickets for trashing two cars."
Mr Leahy said: "He was a very, very silly lad and he's been given a slap on the wrist."
Peter Bardsley, prosecuting, said witnesses had seen Mitchinson driving the silver, two-door 630 brake horsepower Lamborghini at "excessive speed".
"Due to a combination of a wet road and skidding on a man hole cover, he lost control, left the carriageway for around 40 metres, came back onto it and hit the back of the parked car," said Mr Bardsley.
Magistrates heard that the high-powered supercar was in collision with the Ford Focus parked outside RR Stone on Windermere Road in Staveley.
The Murcielago, of which just 4,099 were made during a nine-year period, had just 24,500 miles on the clock.
The Ford Focus was owned by finance officer Ms Kitchen, 33, of Kendal.
Mitchinson, 37, of Low Skelyghyll Farm, Windermere, admitted driving without due care and attention on November 6 last year while carrying out an MoT on behalf of Station Garage, Staveley, Cumbria, set up by his father, Alan.
After the hearing Mr Leahy, 46, a Lake District hotelier and entrepreneur, said: "I'm appalled he thought it fit to drive like that through a quaint, little country village in a customer's car. He should not be allowed behind the wheel of a customer's car."
Mr Leahy, from Greater Manchester, said despite its capabilities, he had always driven the Lamborghini carefully.
"That car was driven like 'Driving Miss Daisy' and I've always been really careful with it," he said.
"At the end of the day he was a very, very silly lad and he's been given a slap on the wrist."
Ms Kitchen was critical of the sentence received by Mitchinson and described the justice system as "a sham".
"That Ford Focus was my Lamborghini," said Ms Kitchen. "It's the best car I've ever had. It was only three years old.
"Basically all he has got is the equivalent of two speeding tickets for trashing two cars.
"It left us without a car. It was a total write-off.
"I was hoping he would receive some sort of a ban, not a long one but maybe just some sort of re-learning of driving skills because he really should know how important it is not to be trashing cars."
Mitchinson declined to comment on the fine but explained why he had not apologised to both car owners in person.
"I was advised by the solicitors not to contact them because of the court proceedings and they have both been apologised to by the garage," he said.
His father Alan Mitchinson stressed the incident was purely an accident, and it was '"the first accident involving a customer's car for 30 years."
Insurance companies paid out £87,000 to Mr Leahy and £7,500 to Ms Kitchen.
Edited at Telegraph.co.uk by Richard Holt
Mechanic who wrote off £220,000 Lamborghini is fined £280 - Telegraph
