An Audi salesman smashed up a showroom’s printer before driving his company car at his boss in a rage over a disciplinary hearing, a court heard.

Aaron Starbuck pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking and criminal damage following the February 29 incident which saw his manager at Sytner’s Audi Leicester showroom, Shakil Karim, carried along on the bonnet of his Audi A3 company car.

Leicester Crown Court heard how Karim had stood in front of the car in an attempt to prevent the 22-year-old leaving the retail site on Narborough Road South after he smashed up a printer in reaction to news of a disciplinary hearing over his attitude.

The Leicester Mercury reported that Karim only fell off the vehicle when Starbuck sharply swung right out of the parking space and drove off, leaving his manager with minor injuries.

Starbuck, of Holmfield Avenue, Loughborough, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking and admitted damaging a printer worth £1,088.

The father-of-three avoided an immediate custodial sentence, however.

Judge Robert Brown handed him a four-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, with 80 hours of unpaid work. He also banned Starbuck from driving for 12 months.

The Leicester Mercury reported that Judge Robert Brown acknowledged that Starbuck had sought help from his GP in relation to stress and anxiety ahead of the incident and was “full of remorse” over his actions.

Judge Brown said: "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."