A teenager has been banned from driving and ordered to pay compensation after crashing a car he stole from Norwich city centre into a tree.

Marley Seger, 19, left the purple Ford Escort convertible a write-off after he left the road near Constitution Hill on June 8. 

Norwich Magistrates’ Court was told people living nearby heard a huge bang and saw an injured man getting out of the wreckage and staggering down the road.

Asif Akram, prosecuting, said he had handed himself into police the following day telling them he had broken into the car on Rouen Road to keep warm but had found the keys inside. 

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Seger, of George Pope Close in Norwich, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking.

Representing himself, he told the court: “I’d like to apologise. What I did was terrible and it was completely out of character for me.”

Magistrates disqualified him from driving for 12 months and ordered he pay compensation and costs of £399.

He must also complete 150 hours unpaid work and an accredited course as part of a two year community order.