A MAN caused his partner to crash her car by pulling the handbrake while she was driving on a 60mph road, a court heard.

Gabriel Fernandez was sitting in the passenger seat of a car, travelling around 50mph, when he reached over and applied the handbrake.

His partner lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a ditch, beside the A337 near Lyndhurst.

The crash happened around 1.45pm on January 3.

Southampton Magistrates’ Court heard that Fernandez had applied the handbrake during a row with his girlfriend over the standard of her driving.

The 33-year-old pleaded guilty to a charge of interfering with a motor vehicle.

He was sentenced to a 12-month community order, which included 100 hours of unpaid work.

Fernandez, of Greenways, Milford-on-Sea, was also ordered to pay £85 costs and an £85 victim surcharge.