A 23-year-old Southampton man has been fined $1,000 for falsely claiming his car was stolen.

Raymond Raynor pleaded guilty in Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday to public mischief by giving a false report to police in Southampton on July 31.

Raynor also admitted failing to stop after an accident on the same date.

Prosecutor Loxly Ricketts told the court that at about 4am, Raynor called 911 to report that his car had been stolen while he was at Snorkel Park, Sandys.

But officers in the West End soon reported that a car matching that description had crashed into a wall on Middle Road, Southampton.

There were no signs that the car had been tampered with and Raynor admitted during an interview that he had been driving, crashed and walked home.

He told the officers that he reported the car stolen because he was already paying to repair previous damage and hoped that by reporting it stolen he would be able to get money from the insurance company.

In court, Raynor said he suffered a momentary lapse of judgment and apologised for his actions.

Magistrate Archibald Warner fined Raynor $1,000 for making a false statement and $300 for leaving the scene of an accident.

Also in court this week, Dennis Lottimore, of Warwick, was ordered to pay $1,000 on his outstanding fines or face time in prison.

The 34-year-old pleaded guilty to having no driver’s licence, riding an unlicensed motorcycle and having no insurance in Warwick on September 6 last year.

Mr Warner fined him $150 for not having a licence, $250 for the unlicensed cycle, $1,000 for not having insurance and gave him 11 demerit points on his licence.

But the court heard that Lottimore had repeatedly failed to appear before the courts and still owed money on fines dating back to 2011.

Mr Warner said Lottimore had failed to pay a $1,000 fine he received for driving without due care in Hamilton Parish in April 2011.

He also failed to pay a $1,000 fine for driving while over the legal blood-alcohol limit in May 2011.

Mr Warner ordered Lottimore to pay $1,000 towards his balance of $3,400 before he was released or face time in default.

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