08 January 2025 , 09:49
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The driver of a Ferrari which ploughed into a bike rack narrowly missing a jogger earlier this year has pleaded guilty to careless driving.
Joey Baptiste, 41, was at the wheel of a Ferrari F430 which crashed in Norwich earlier this year.
In a moment captured on CCTV footage in March, the vehicle is filmed speeding around a bend on Rose Lane before crashing into a bike rack as a jogger runs past.
After the £100,000 vehicle mounts the pavement, it veers back into the centre of the road before grinding to a halt with its left side battered.
While Baptiste had been driving the vehicle, its owner, former Dragons’ Den star Ross Mendham, was sitting in the passengers seat.
Neither were hurt in the crash.
Joey Baptiste outside court
Baptiste had initially denied driving without due care and attention, claiming the car had suffered a ‘mechanical failure.’
But the 41-year-old changed his plea to guilty earlier this month after losing communication with Mr Mendham – meaning the vehicle could not be tested.
At Great Yarmouth Magistrates’ Court earlier this week, Hollie Davies-Raegan of the Crown Prosecution Service read a witness account of the incident claiming Baptiste had been ‘revving the engine’ at red lights prior to the crash.
The witness added they had ‘never seen driving quite so bad and quite so fast down that bit of road.’
Ross Mendham, a former Dragons’ Den contestant, was the vehicle’s passenger and its owner (Picture: BBC)
Baptiste’s lawyer, Rachel Buck, told the court that he was insured to drive the car and was doing so because Mr Mendham was ‘feeling unwell.’
She said that moments before the crash Baptiste had accidentally hit the accelerator when trying to brake.
She added that witnesses think that he was speeding because the car has a loud engine, before her client whispered it was a ‘4.7 V8 litre engine.’
Baptiste had already received four points on his license since the crash, and Miss Buck claimed that he requires his full driving license to fulfill his duties as a ground worker.
He will appear at Norwich magistrates court on February 19 to be sentenced.