A banned driver who smashed a car into a Herne Bay roundabout and then ran off has avoided going to prison.

Magistrates decided that Kalvin Mapungwana should receive a suspended sentence and curfew after he ploughed the MG ZR into a kerb in Sea Street and destroyed railings on the other side of the road.

At a previous court hearing, the 21-year-old, of Puffin Road, admitted driving without due care and attention, failing to stop at the scene of an accident, driving without insurance and driving while banned.

On Friday, magistrates in Canterbury sentenced him to 56 days in prison, suspended for two years, with a three-month curfew between 7pm and 7am.

The court heard that Mapungwana took his brother’s car after they argued on the evening of August 8.

At 10.25pm he hit the roundabout and then ran off into Grand Drive, where he was seen hopping through gardens.

Student Daniel Dooner, who was driving along the Sea Street when Mapungwana overtook him, said: “It was just a small dot in my rear view mirror and then he suddenly right up behind me.

“It overtook me near the Co-op but there was another car coming the other way so it had to pull in quickly, forcing me up onto the path. His back wheel hit the kerb and chucked the car sideways into the roundabout. It was like something you’d see on TV.”

Police found Mapungwana’s DNA on the airbag, but could not find the driver.

Mapungwana, who works as a labourer, handed himself into a police station on August 14.

He had already been on a three-year driving ban.

As part of his sentence, Mapungwana must do 20 days behavioural therapy with the Thinking Skills Programme. He must also pay an £80 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.

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