A mechanic who caused almost £100,000 worth of damage when he crashed a Lamborghini into a Ford Focus during an MoT brake test has been fined just £280.
Andrew Mitchinson, 37, wrote off both the 6.2litre Murcielago worth £220,000 and the £7,500 Ford when he skidded and lost control on a wet road, South Lakeland Magistrates' Court heard.
Prosecutor Peter Bardsley said witnesses had seen Mitchinson driving the 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.
Mitchinson 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.
The court heard the prized Lamborghini, owned by millionaire hotel boss Stephen Leahy, was damaged beyond repair.
Insurance companies paid out £87,000 to Mr Leahy and £7,500 to the owner of the Ford Focus mother-of-two Marianne Kitchen.
But magistrates fined Mitchinson just £280 as well as ordering him to pay court costs of £350 and a victim surcharge of £30 to Mr Leahy.
Six penalty points were also added to his licence. Afterwards, both car owners slammed Mitchinson's sentence, with Mr Leahy describing it as merely 'a slap on the wrist'.
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.'
Written off: Owner Stephen Leahy with his £220,000 Lamborghini which suffered £87,000 worth of damage in the crash
Careful: Mr Leahy said : Andrew Mitchinson said he had treated his Lamborghini like 'Driving Miss Diasy' before it was crashed by Mitchinson
He said despite its capabilities, he had always driven the Lamborghini carefully. The 211mph supercar was one of just 20 LP640 models made and had only 24,500 miles on the clock.
'That car was driven like Driving Miss Daisy and I’ve always been really careful with it,' said Mr Leahy.
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'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, 33, said: 'Basically all he has got is the equivalent of two speeding tickets for trashing two cars.
Ms Kitchen described the justice system as ‘a sham' following Mitchinson's sentence.
'That Ford Focus, was my Lamborghini,' she said. 'It’s the best car I’ve ever had. It was only three years old.
Fuming: Mother-of-two Marianne Kitchen said her Ford Focus was like 'my Lamborghini' before it was written off by Mitchinson
'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.'
Mr 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.
Lamborghini Murcielago LP640: This Italian supercar races from 0-60mph in a heart-stopping 3.5 seconds (File picture)
Thoroughbred: The supercar had been booked into a garage for a routine MoT when it was crashed by the tester Andrew Mitchinson (File picture)