A LOCHGELLY man’s attempt at a prank saw him wrecking his partner’s car by crashing it into a signpost and another vehicle.

Declan McQuade thought it would be a laugh to move her car when she was in a shop even though he did not hold a valid driving licence.

The joke backfired and she returned to the Co-op store car park to find her vehicle smashed up.

McQuade, 20, of Gardiner Street, appeared for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

He admitted that on May 10, at the rear car park of the Co-op store, Bank Street, Lochgelly, he took and drove away a car without the consent of the owner.

He drove carelessly by causing the car to accelerate rapidly whereby it struck a signpost and then collided with another vehicle, damaging it.

He also drove without insurance and without a valid licence.

McQuade had admitted initially by letter to driving dangerously without taking legal advice.

Solicitor Alexander Flett asked successfully to withdraw that plea and admit to careless driving instead.

Depute fiscal Jill Currie said McQuade had been out shopping with his partner.

“When she was in a shop with her children, the accused decided to move her car for whatever reason,” she added.

Mr Flett said: “It was done as a prank and was clearly not at all sensible. The damage to his partner’s car was fairly substantial.

“It was a very costly prank. He was going to move the car as a joke so it would be in a different place when she came out of the shop.”

McQuade had paid for repairs from money which had been left to him by a deceased relative.

The repairs to the other car had been paid for by her partner’s dad, added the solicitor.

The sheriff asked: “And he’s never even had a driving lesson?”

“No” said Mr Flett.

Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith fined McQuade £640 and banned him from driving for 16 months.