A SOUTHAMPTON man went to Bitterne police station to report his Vauxhall Corsa was missing from his home where he had been partying.

In reality, Daniel Furmage had been in a Woolston pub with friends where the police were waiting outside after receiving a tip-off he had been drinking heavily.

Prosecutor Gavin Sumpter told the city crown court Furmage got into the Vauxhall as a passenger and the vehicle was driven dangerously, evading police until they found it crashed and empty. “The defendant reported his car was missing but in truth he very well knew what had happened.”

Furmage, 27, of Deacon Road, Southampton, admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice and received a six-month suspended sentence with an order to pay costs and a victim surcharge totalling £530.