Twelve year-old takes car on North East ‘joyride’

The youngster, who has learning difficulties, got behind the wheel of his mum’s Peugeot after storming out of the family home after being told to tidy his room.

He set off from St Fergus on the Buchan coast around 10am on Tuesday, drove at a low speed along the A90 towards Fraserburgh before turning onto the the A952 Mintlaw to Toll of Birness road and then back onto the busy Peterhead to Aberdeen stretch of the A90 where his mother’s car was brought to a controlled stop on the outskirts of Ellon.

He had been behind the wheel for an estimated 30 minutes before being stopped.

A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “A divisional unit and a roads policing unit were dispatched to search for the vehicle and eventually caught up with it at the Tesco roundabout at Ellon. “The two units made contact with the vehicle and the driver complied and officers brought the car to a safe at controlled stop.”

He added: “At no point was anyone in danger or was a chase approved by our control room. “The whole incident was over in around 30 minutes and was safely coordinated by the control room in Aberdeen.”

His relieved mum told The Press and Journal: “I wasn’t caring about the car to be honest, I’m just glad he is ok.”

She said that her son had set off in her car after being told to tidy his room. He stormed out of the family home with the car keys.

The mother said: “He got in and started revving the engine and blowing the horn. I tried to stop him and some neighbours came out to help too.

“But he just took off and I ran inside phoned 999. The police were really good and were keeping me up to date the whole time about where he had been seen and when they eventually caught up with him.”

She added: “We are so relieved he is ok. We will be keeping the car keys on us and the doors locked from now on.”

The mum also explained that her son knew how to drive because his dad had once shown him how the car worked at a disused airfield in the North east.