Marcus Arnaldo Ortelli, who also pleaded guilty to driving without insurance, got the blue convertible Ferrari 355 out of storage to show it off to ‘excited children’, the Magistrate’s Court heard.
However, after the 47-year-old, who owns Bellagio Restaurant and Wine Bar, left the vehicle parked outside his business on the newly pedestrianised area at Charing Cross at about 11.45 am on 6 August, it attracted the police’s attention.
Centenier Tony Batho said that the Ferrari must have been driven around bollards designed to stop vehicle access.
When the police checked the car’s details, it emerged that the defendant was not the vehicle’s registered keeper. The court heard that the Ferrari was held in the name of his brother-in-law as Ortelli wanted to avoid having to sell it as part of his divorce proceedings.
Advocate Estelle Burns, defending, said Ortelli took the car out of a commercial storage facility where it was normally kept because his partner’s sister’s children wanted to see the vehicle. ‘It was just to show off to excited children,’ she said.
When Ortelli went to police headquarters days later to hand over documents, it was noted that the insurance he produced had been taken out on 7 August – the day after the offence.
Advocate Burns said that Ortelli believed that his brother-in-law held a valid insurance policy which would cover him to drive the Ferrari, but accepted he should have checked.
In sentencing, the Magistrate Bridget Shaw said: ‘I believe you were highly negligent. This vehicle had been transferred into the name of your brother-in-law for your own nefarious purposes. It was a complete sham. You were wholly responsible for insuring that vehicle, not your brother-in-law. What will save you from disqualification today is that there is no evidence you had the vehicle on the road.’
As well as being fined £3,000, Ortelli also had his licence endorsed.
