A teenager stole his grandfather’s Land Rover and ploughed into an historic pub causing £500,000 of damage, but has only been ordered to pay the landlords £1,000 compensation.

Taylor Peek took the keys after a drinking binge before embedding the “large and powerful” 4x4 into the wall of The Swan Inn, Swan Lane, Little Chart, Ashford.

The 18-year-old, who was 17 at the time of the offence, was handed six months' custody suspended for a year at Canterbury Crown Court.

“It is by chance nobody was killed” in the crash, which left a hole in the wall and took months to repair, a judge said.

“You stole a large and powerful car.

“You drove the car with such lack of care you crashed into the side of an historic pub causing damage the insurance company had to pay out,” Judge Catherine Brown said.

“Plainly it was a very substantial job to reinstate that much loved old pub - it is by chance nobody in the car, or indeed the pub, was killed.

“If you do anything like this again you can be sure you will be going to a Young Offenders’ Institute, do you understand?"

“Yes,” Peek replied from the dock.

Peek and his friends were drinking at his grandfather’s home nearby when he decided to steal the car, and then hit the Grade II listed building, prosecutors said.

“The defendant and two others got into the car, a Land Rover, and they drove around a field, went out into a road and drove at some speed when they went into a bend in the road, the defendant lost control and crashed into the Swan Inn,” Daniel Bunting explained.

“It was in the early hours of the morning, it was shut, but the owners were present.

“They came downstairs and it’s fair to say Mr Peek was remorseful at the scene.”

The court heard Peek, of Ram Lane, Hothfield, Ashford, made full admissions in police interview after being arrested at the scene, he pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

He admitted drinking alcohol however, breathalyser tests showed he was under the legal drink drive limit.

Peek has worked to address his drinking and found employment with Sainsbury’s since the crash in July 2020, his lawyer explained.

Zander Goss, mitigating, said: “Mr Peek has been out of trouble since this incident occurred, he has taken to applying himself for work.”

Giving a personal reference family member Alison Payne explained his actions were out of character and he has “a good moral compass.”

“Lockdown had a particularly negative impact on him - he became depressed and withdrawn,” she added.

Peek, who has one previous driving conviction aged 15, will also be subject to 120 hours unpaid work, 10 rehabilitation days, a 60 day alcohol abstinence order, 18 month driving disqualification and £1,000 compensation.

After sentencing as spokesman for the pub said: “The fact it’s suspended means he doesn’t have to pay any repercussions at all it sounds like.

“He’s not really having to pay for the damages which cost the pub a lot of money.

“That’s just a slap on the wrist and a ‘don’t do it again’ in my opinion.

“To be honest he’s getting off scot free with that.”