A trainee teacher has appeared in court after fleeing from his crashed car, leaving two injured friends behind.

Christopher Rushton headed from Huddersfield to Leeds to continue his night out following the New Year’s Eve smash

He didn’t hand himself until two hours later - after police contacted him.

Rushton, of Wentworth Court in Rastrick, pleaded guilty to failing to report a road accident.

Kirklees magistrates heard that the crash happened at around 10pm after Rushton lost control of his Vauxhall Corsa on Netheroyd Hill in Fixby.

This resulted in damage to both the vehicle and a wall and police were called.

When they arrived they found the two passengers still there but 22-year-old Rushton had left.

They attended at hospital and were described as suffering minor whiplash injuries.

Magistrates heard that Rushton had planned to drop his friends off in Huddersfield town centre before heading to Leeds.

But it was raining heavily and he tackled a sharp bend he lost control of his car.

Zara Begum, mitigating, said: “He’d never had an accident before, this came as a bit of a shock to him and he panicked.

“He proceeded with his night out in Leeds where he was then contacted by police.

“He flagged down some PCSOs and made his way to the nearest police station where he was arrested.

“This was two hours after the accident (and) he is remorseful for his actions.

“He feels it was completely the wrong judgement call he made on that night (and) he should have handled things differently.”

Magistrates heard that Rushton is currently studying for a postgraduate PGCE and plans to become a PE teacher.

They endorsed his licence with five penalty points.

He also has to pay £65 fine, £85 costs and £20 victim surcharge.