A DELIVERY driver who hit a parked car with a white van and then drove off without leaving his details has appeared before a court.

James Leslie Hood, 28, already had two speeding convictions when he damaged the rear wheel hub of a woman’s car when trying to get into a parking space.

When he saw that his actions had been witnessed by a passer-by, he drove off, said Martin Butterworth, prosecuting.

But the witness took the registration number of the large white van and gave it to the damaged car’s owner who contacted police.

Hood’s solicitor Lee-Anne Robins-Hick said Hood had realised he had hit something, but had not realised he had caused any damage.

“He is devastated to be here”, she said. “It was a momentary, matter of seconds, lapse of concentration.”

Hood claimed he had parked up nearby and returned, though none of the prosecution witnesses saw him. He had checked the front wheel hub, seen that it was undamaged and believed he did not have to leave his details. He had then left.

Tracked down by police, he told officers he knew he had hit something.

Hood, of Stockton Lane, York, pleaded guilty to careless driving and failure to stop and was fined £225 with £85 prosecution costs and a £20 statutory surcharge and given five penalty points.

York magistrates warned him because he already had six penalty points for speeding offences committed in 2012 and 2013, he would get an automatic driving ban of six months if he got any more points.

Mrs Robins-Hick said Hood had worked as a delivery driver for nine years for a builder’s merchants and would lose his job if he was banned.