A teenager has admitted taking his mother’s Mercedes and driving the wrong way round Kingston’s one-way system while leading police on a chase through the town centre.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking and dangerous driving when he appeared at Wimbledon Youth Court yesterday.

His parents accompanied him for the hearing, where he admitted he was driving at excessive speed and put pedestrians at risk of injury.

Defence counsel Jennifer Siddorn said: “He accepts his driving was appalling and well below the standard. If he lost control of the car there would have been catastrophic consequences.”

The youngster, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder will be sentenced at Hammersmith Youth Court on Monday, February 23.

He was given an interim driving disqualification until then, with magistrates chairman Danny Rich warning him breaking this would land the teenager in jail.

He added: “He’s lucky he did not hit anybody.”

Kingston police were first alerted to the young joyrider after a call at just after 2.30am on Saturday, October 19.

Prosecutor Salina Ayub said: “There was a call made by a member of the public who believed that the vehicle was being driven by someone under the influence of alcohol.

“He had driven through several red lights and almost collided with a member of public. The vehicle was driving erratically and swerving all over the road.”

She said the driver was alleged to have nearly run into pedestrians on three separate occasions during the chase, although this was disputed.

The youngster also denied driving into a police officer who tried to stop him.

But Mr Rich said: “This is an extremely dangerous piece of driving through the streets of Kingston.”

When police officers were finally able to stop the driver – having smashed the car’s windows and jumped in to pull the handbrake up after he crashed into a traffic island in Wheatfield Way – the teenager said he had failed to stop because he did not have insurance.

The boy had been given a warning for aggravated vehicle taking in March 2011, and also has other non-driving related convictions, which were not disclosed in court.

He was also the subject of a youth rehabilitation order at the time of the crime.

An application by the Surrey Comet to lift the anonymity of the youth was refused pending pre-sentence reports to determine his vulnerability.