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Millionaire supercar dealer spared jail after £180,000 Ferrari 'roundabout racing' crash

Hartley and the smashed car following the roundabout crash. (SWNS)
Hartley and the smashed car following the roundabout crash. (SWNS)

A millionaire supercar dealer who was speeding and racing when he crashed his Ferrari head-on at a roundabout has been spared jail.

Carl Hartley, 32, of Swadlincote, Derbyshire, smashed his grey £180,000 Ferrari 458 Italia into a Porsche 718 Cayman GTS worth £80,000, owned by Henry James Hibbs.

Hartley, who made his fortune selling supercars to the rich and famous, following in the footsteps of his father, Tom Hartley Snr, admitted dangerous driving when at Sheffield Crown Court in November last year.

On Wednesday, he was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for 24 months, and ordered to complete 200 hours’ unpaid work.

He was also banned from driving for two years, ordered to take an extended test before driving again and told to pay £1,400 in costs.

The Ferrari after the crash. (SWNS)
The Ferrari after the crash. (SWNS)
Thomas Hartley. (Instagram/SWNS)
Carl Hartley. (Instagram/SWNS)

Hartley is worth £23 million and was once numbered 32 in the Sunday Times’ under 30 rich list.

The father-of-one starred in Channel 4’s First Cut – Supercars: the Million Pound Motors alongside his self-made multimillionaire dad, who heads the Derbyshire-based Tom Hartley luxury and performance car dealer.

Hibbs, of New Ollertson, Nottinghamshire, suffered minor injuries in the smash and pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial.

But a jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to ten months in prison, suspended for 24 months, and told to complete 220 hours’ unpaid work.

He was also disqualified from driving for two years and must take an extended test before driving again and ordered to pay £4,070 costs.

Both Hartley and Hibbs initially fled the scene of the smash, which happened just before 8pm on May 20, 2018.

The red Porschue after the collision. (SWNS)
The red Porschue after the collision. (SWNS)

The crash on a roundabout in Sheffield left the mangled wreckage of the Porsche without a rear wheel and its bumper in pieces on the road.

Hartley later identified himself as the driver of the Ferrari, but told police the brakes on his car had failed, which caused the crash - though a police investigation found no damage to the brakes.

It also identified the speed the airbags were deployed at was 68mph, above the 50mph limit of the road the cars were travelling on at the time of the crash.

In November, the court heard a number of witnesses told investigators the motorists were driving "dangerously" and "unsafely" and both cars were captured on CCTV footage at various locations exceeding the speed limits of the road they were on.

Traffic officer PC McEnery, of South Yorkshire Police, who led the investigation, said: “Vehicles racing and travelling at speed are a dangerous combination and this collision could have seriously injured the drivers and innocent road users.

The Porsche's wheel was detached from the car. (SWNS)
The Porsche's wheel was detached from the car. (SWNS)

“I hope Hibbs and Hartley reflect on what consequences their actions could have had.”

She added: “Numerous witnesses came forward, all highlighting the ‘dangerous’, ‘unsafe’ and ‘racing style’ behaviour that the drivers had been showcasing across South Yorkshire.”

Hartley's Instagram account features images of wealth, including fleets of super cars, champagne and captions comparing his lifestyle to the Great Gatsby novel.

One of the pictures shows him being stopped by police while driving a Bugatti, with the caption: “Officer: Do you know why I've stopped you? Me: Because I let you.”

He sells prestigious cars to the rich and famous including Crystal Palace star Wilfred Zaha, and lives on a 40-acre estate in Derbyshire, which is also home to lavish car showrooms.