Moment jilted husband took double-decker bus on boozy joyride causing £150,000 in damage after driver nipped to loo and left engine running

A JILTED husband wrote off a double-decker bus for a joyride causing £150,000 in damage after the driver left it running with keys in the ignition while he went to the toilet.

Drunk Deepak Malhotra, 35, swiped the eight-tonne motor before rampaging through Watford for a trip a judge yesterday branded "a spectacularly dangerous piece of driving".

"The driver had already been approached by the defendant earlier asking him questions.

"When he came back he discovered it had gone missing.

"This defendant drove the bus at speed and in an erratic fashion, causing damage and mayhem.

"He collided with a roadside sign and caused it to smash into a business premises.

"A set of railings on the pavement were then dragged across the road.

"It also collided with an Audi outside the address of the owner.

"The defendant abandoned the bus and then approached a lady who was parked in the road.

"He knocked on the window and said 'I need help' but a passerby called the police.

"The defendant was detained in a nearby road."

Malhotra, who has 14 previous convictions for 30 offences including drink driving, was banned from motoring at the time.

He got onto the bus by forcing open the doors before speeding off before eventually abandoning it.

After being nicked he have a no comment interview and when tested was over the limit with 91mg in 100ml of blood.

His lawyer James Noble said he had expressed genuine remorse and had been on suicide watch on remand.

He added he had been devastated by a marriage breakdown and family problems and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity back on August 8.

But Judge Fiona Barrie tore a strip off the crooked motorist, sentencing him to a total of 21 months behind bars.

She said: "You entered Watford bus station where one of the drivers had locked the bus but left the keys in the ignition while he went to relieve himself.

He was jailed for 21 months at Harrow Crown Court after admitting taking the vehicle while drunk and disqualified.

Malhotra struck at 10pm outside Watford train station on July 7 this year before his one-mile wrecking spree.

The bus driver had locked the doors of the Arriva double decker but had left the engine running while he relieved himself.

He was stunned when he return to find it missing and it instead tearing around the city centre streets of Watford with a drunk at the wheel.

Among the carnage caused was a business's windows, an expensive Audi and railings that were dragged along the road.

Prosecutor Will Noble said: "The bus had in this case driven his bus and let off his passengers outside Watford Rail Station
.
"He had gone to the toilet leaving the engine running but locking all the exterior doors.

"It was a double decker bus.

"What followed was a spectacularly dangerous piece of driving and it was a wonder no pedestrian or other road user was hurt.

"You drove the bus erratically, at speed and through red lights.

"This was an atrocious and highly dangerous piece of driving.

"The nature of which was a double decker bus on which you had no training. You were at the time a disqualified driver.

"These offences are so serious they merit a custodial sentence."

Malhotra was given 16 months for aggravated vehicle taking, three months for driving with excess alcohol and two for doing it while disqualified, all to run consecutively.

Prosecution experts did not have the information to be able to apply for costs but the bus, which was worth £150,000, had to be written off.

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