A TEENAGER took his father’s van without permission before the vehicle was found crashed into the garden wall of a home in Musselburgh.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told that 18-year-old Declan Robertson had reunited with his father four months before the incident took place after the pair had previously not been seeing each other.

Robertson’s father was said to have been out of the country when the teenager decided to get into the vehicle and go for a drive.

Robertson, of Ravensheugh Road, Musselburgh, was just 17 at the time of the incident and it was found that he had taken the vehicle without the consent of the owner.

The vehicle was subsequently discovered crashed into a garden wall at Craighall Drive on December 26, 2022.

The teenager was in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last Thursday, where he pleaded guilty to taking and driving away the vehicle without the consent of the owner.

He also admitted to a charge of driving with no valid insurance for the vehicle.

Robertson had pleas of not guilty accepted by the Crown to driving the vehicle dangerously and colliding with a wall at a house at Craighall Drive, and to driving the vehicle while only holding a provisional licence.

Solicitor Chris McFarlane told the court that his client was unemployed but was currently undertaking a qualification that would allow him to work in the building trade.

Mr McFarlane said that Robertson “now regrets” committing the offence and had been in “a low mood” at the time of the incident.

Sheriff Derek O’Carroll acknowledged that Robertson had pleaded guilty at an early stage and sentenced him to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work in the community.

The sheriff also placed six penalty points on Robertson’s driving licence.