Audi Salesman Who Smashed Printer And Ran Over His Boss Spared Jail

An Audi salesman has been spared jail after he smashed up an office printer and ran down his boss as he left the showroom.

Aaron Starbuck, 22, flew into a rage after he was told that he was facing a disciplinary hearing at the car showroom in Leicester.

The dad-of-three destroyed a printer worth more than £1,000 and then refused to hand over the keys to his Audi A3 in February this year.

He then proceeded to drive away, despite manager Shakil Karim attempting to stop him by standing in front of the car with his arms outstretched.

But Starbuck continued to drive away, with Mr Karim sprawled across the car’s bonnet.

He eventually fell off when Starbuck turned right sharply, and continued to drive away.

Mr Karim was admitted to hospital, having suffered minor soft tissue damage and injuries to his back and shoulder.

Starbuck has now pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking and the injury inflicted on Mr Karim, along with damage to the printer worth £1,088.

But he has been spared jail, and was instead handed a four-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months.

He has also been ordered to undertake 80 hours of unpaid work, and has been banned from driving for a year.

Delivering sentence at Loughborough Crown Court, Judge Robert Brown said: ‘You lost control in a situation where you should have been able to control yourself and deal with things in the proper way.

‘You’d been struggling with stress and anxiety and saw your GP a fortnight before this. You weren’t performing well and were criticised for your attitude and behaviour and were required to go through a disciplinary process and you didn’t think it was fair.

‘The aggravating feature is you struck someone, although it would be wrong to describe it as a hit and run. You behaved in a foolish and immature way that afternoon.’

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He added: ‘I’m not going to send you to custody because the suffering to your partner and three young children would be out of all proportion.’

The Audi showroom has refused to comment.