Man sentenced for crashing his car into an historic shelter then claiming it was stolen
A man has been sentenced for driving his car at high speed, crashing it into a historic shelter, submerging it in a lake and then ringing the police to claim the car had been stolen.
Harry Mason, 29, of The Mallards in Southport, was spotted by police, driving a Mercedes car in a dangerous manner in the town in the early hours of 1 February 2025.
They followed him and, in the pursuit, Mason hit speeds of up to 90mph in a 30mph area. The police lost sight of the vehicle but Mason went on to crash it into a historic Victorian shelter by the Marine Lake.
He then drove the car into the lake and the vehicle began to sink. Mason managed to free himself from the car, went home and then rang the police to claim his car had been stolen.
Police came to Mason’s home, and took a statement. Crime scene investigators came to the house to take fingerprints and Mason confessed that he had made the story up and said he was responsible for crashing the car.
He was arrested and charged with driving a motor vehicle dangerously and committing an act with intent to pervert the course of justice.
On 27 August 2025 he pleaded guilty to both charges at Liverpool Crown Court. Today, 20 October 2025, at Liverpool Crown Court he was given a 14-month jail term, suspended for two years, 10 months for dangerous driving and four months for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
He must also do 20 days of a rehabilitation activity, 240 hours of unpaid work and is subject to an electronic curfew for 4 months between 8pm until 6am.
He was also disqualified from driving for 18 months, after which he must pass an extended retest before he can drive again.
A statement to the court from Sefton Council said the cost of repairing the damage to the much-loved Grade 2 listed Victorian shelter and surrounding balustrade would be between £90,000 - £150,000. The car had to be lifted out of the lake by a crane at further cost to the council.
The statement from Sefton Council added: “This damage was caused by the selfish actions of one person and could clearly have been avoided. It is a miracle that nobody was killed or injured.
“The damage will be repaired and..this lovely, ornate shelter will once again be cherished by the community. It is just unfortunate that precious staff time and resources are having to be diverted following an event that should never have happened but did, due to the stupid actions of one selfish individual who clearly did not care about his fellow citizens and the privilege of living in such a beautiful town as Southport.”
Senior Crown Prosecutor Rachel Worthington, of CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: “It is unclear what led Harry Mason to do what he did that night
“His driving was dangerous and ended in thousands of pounds of damage to a much-loved local piece of architecture and the Mercedes car being wrecked.
“A night of madness that Mason must now come to terms with and no doubt regret for a long time to come.”