A FARM labourer who demolished a stone wall with his car after drinking and ran off has kept his driving licence.

Dominic Kwiatowski’s Fiesta overturned in the crash and ended up in the middle of a country lane, said Jane Chadwick, prosecuting.

Residents of the cottage behind the wall came out to see if anyone was injured.

But instead of staying at the scene to give his name and address, the 20-year-old fled and didn’t turn himself in until the next day.

He told police he had a pint to drink before driving, she told York Magistrates' Court.

For Kwiatowski, Keith Whitehouse said: “He panicked and left the scene. He is very worried about losing his licence. It would place him in some hardship.”

The 20-year-old worked on a farm 15 miles away from his home at Linton-on-Ouse and there was no public transport he could use to get to work.

Kwiatowski, of Linton-on-Ouse, pleaded guilty to careless driving and failure to stop after an accident.

District judge Adrian Lower said he accepted Kwiatowski’s flight was not due to his drinking but because he was an inexperienced driver, who needed to understand that he had responsibilities to stay at the scene when involved in a collision.

The 20-year-old had left the cottage residents out of pocket to pay for the wall and put them and the police to the trouble of tracking him down.

The judge gave Kwiatowski eight penalty points, fined him £500 and ordered him to pay a £30 statutory surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.

Mrs Chadwick said Kwiatowski was driving along a country lane in Crayke just after midnight on June 28 when he crashed into the cottage’s boundary wall.

“It (the collision) completely destroyed the stone wall,” she said.

“The vehicle ended up on its side in the middle of the single carriageway.”

Kwiatowski had walked into a police station the next day and confessed to being the driver.

Mr Whitehouse said Kwiatowski currently works very long hours because of the time of year.