A DRIVER who crashed his car then tried to claim it had been stolen was exposed by what a judge called a `masterclass of stupidity'.

Anthony Clark had been drinking and was driving one-handed because of a plaster cast on his arm when he crashed near his Blackley home.

He called 999 and told police a pack of lies, saying his Ford Focus had been stolen during a burglary. Officers who arrived probed further after he explained why the `stolen' car was still beside him.

He insisted the fleeing thieves were taunting him and driving away so slowly that he was able to keep up with them on foot until they abandoned the vehicle and ran away.

He said he had drunk less than one can of lager and officers didn't breathalyse him.

Within nine hours, he admitted he had lied in `panic' over fears he would get a driving ban. Clark, 29, of Printon Avenue, admitted making a false report to the police about the February 20 incident.

The father-of-two escaped jail when he appeared at Manchester Crown Court. Earlier, in a letter to the judge, he apologised for his `stupid actions'.

He said he had drunk less than one can of lager on the night and had decided to get into the car to go to the garage for cigarettes.

The court heard he had panicked when he crashed the car on Victoria Avenue because he feared he would lose his driving licence which he needed for his job as a security officer and valet driver for Euro Car Parks.

Judge Clarke said: "It was a masterclass of stupidity."

The judge continued: "It would appear he was trying to drive the car one-handed as he had a cast on his other arm."

Clark was given a 16-week suspended prison sentence and the judge told him: "Whether you had been drinking or not, we will never really know the answer to that. But you were driving the car. It was involved in an accident. It might have been the result of drink, or it might have been as a result of black ice.

"A previous accident had left you with your arm in a plaster cast and you may not have been in proper control. You were seen by police and came up with the story that the car had been stolen and driven at such a slow speed that you could follow it on foot."

The judge said police had been `remarkably charitable' by not breath-testing Clark.

"Within a short period of time after trying to convince everybody about the story, you had the good grace to actually tell the truth about what had happened.

"It's perhaps one of the most stupid pieces of behaviour a court has come across."

But the judge heard how Clark was a lone parent and decided to suspend his prison sentence to avoid suffering for his child.

Clark, who had two previous convictions for public order and driving without insurance, was also sentenced to 100 hours unpaid work and given eight penalty points.