Moment ‘show off’ in Dragons’ Den star’s £100k supercar mounts pavement, smashes into bike rack & just misses jogger
THIS is the shocking moment a “show off” ploughed a Dragons’ Den star’s £100k supercar onto the pavement and narrowly missed a jogger.
A court heard how Joey Baptiste, 41, pleaded guilty to careless driving after crashing the Ferrari F430 in Norwich, Norfolk on March 17, last year.
Nail-biting footage of the smash shows Baptiste speeding through the town shortly before 5pm.
The reckless driver loses control and hits a bike rack, just as a jogger passes behind, and metres from terrified pedestrians.
He then mounts the pavement on the other side of the street before abandoning the supercar.
Smoke can be seen pouring from the bonnet as it sits in the middle of the road.
Great Yarmouth Magistrate’s Court heard on January 2 the Ferrari was owned by former Dragons’ Den star Ross Mendham.
Mendham appeared on the show in 2013 and Dragon Peter Jones invested £60,000 into his company, Barenaked Foods.
Last year he launched a fashion brand called God of Design that features restored vintage clothing.
Mendham was actually a passenger in the car, later written off, at the time.
Baptiste admitted to careless driving after previously claiming the crash was a result of a “mechanical failure”.
Hollie Davies-Regan, from the Crown Prosecution Service, told the court witnesses reported Baptiste “revving the engine”.
In a written statement, they said it appeared the driver was “showing off”.
Another witness said as the driver accelerated he “lost control of the back end of the car” just before ploughing into the bike racks.
Defence barrister, Rachel Buck, told the court Baptiste was driving because Mendham felt ill, and he was insured to be behind the wheel.
She added how Baptiste told her he went to brake but accidentally pressed on the accelerator.
The lawyer dismissed claims her client was “showing off” by revving the engine, and blamed it on the Ferraris’ powerful engine.
She argued he needs his licence to pick up his son, who lives in Fakenham, on weekends.
The court also heard Baptiste had been slapped with four points on his licence for speeding in another incident after crashing Mendham’s supercar.
He was told by magistrates they intend to add another seven points to his licence.
Baptiste will appear at Norwich Magistrates’ Court to be sentenced on February 19.