AN UNINSURED driver with a history of committing serious motoring offences, took his partner's car keys, oblivious to her, and crashed into a bus in Sandown on the Isle of Wight.

Jordan Jude, of Parkway, Apse Heath, admitted driving without a licence, driving without insurance and aggravated vehicle taking, in Sandown, on February 4, when he appeared at the Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court.

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Jude, with a criminal record of ten convictions for 26 offences, told his partner he was going to the gym for an hour.

She assumed the 27-year-old would be walking, said Lauren McConnell, prosecuting.

Knowing where her car keys were, Jude took her white Ford car, parked, in Avenue Road, Sandown.

She only became aware her vehicle had been taken, when she saw a Facebook post about an accident in Sandown — recognising her car. 

Jude had crashed into a Southern Vectis double decker bus, on Fitzroy Street.

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The front of the bus was damaged, at a cost of £1,500, and the car was written off.

No one was injured in the collision.

When arrested, Jude identified himself as being the driver and confessed to taking his partner's car without his partner's knowledge, saying that if he had asked her, she would have refused to let him drive it.

He revealed he had no driving licence, saying he knew he had made "a stupid decision" to drive to the gym, having never passed his driving test.

In 2017, Jude was convicted of dangerous driving, driving whilst uninsured and failing to stop after an accident, together with a separate offence of aggravated vehicle taking — all committed while he was a youth.

For Jude, Nick Muir said his client had not offended for seven years and had "appeared to have changed his youth ways — until today".

After considering a report, magistrates handed Jude a 12-month driving ban, together with a year's probation, which includes an order to complete rehabilitation sessions and 100 hours' unpaid work, with £85 costs and a £114 surcharge.

Presiding magistrate, David Wilson, told Jude: You made an absolutely stupid decision. If good came out of it, it's that no one was injured."