A man has admitted causing the death of a 74-year-old great-grandfather by dangerous driving after stealing a high-performance Maserati from a showroom forecourt and speeding away at 85 mph.

Fraser Garden, 55, pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including theft of a motor vehicle, causing death by dangerous driving, driving without insurance, driving while disqualified, and failing to provide a blood sample for drugs testing. He is facing a lengthy prison sentence.

The incident occurred on April 13 of last year when Garden entered a car showroom in Broughty Ferry, Scotland, and stole a Maserati capable of reaching 193 mph. A judge described the subsequent driving as an "appalling episode of driving."

Garden drove the vehicle at 80 mph through a residential area, nearly three times the 30 mph speed limit. He also ran a red light, drove on the wrong side of the road, and overtook other vehicles into oncoming traffic.

Less than 750 meters from the showroom, Garden lost control of the vehicle on a bend. The car clipped a kerb, struck a traffic island, and then crashed through a hedge into a garden. There, John Bell, 74, who was doing work for a neighbor, was struck by the front of the car and pinned against a wall. Mr. Bell, a former taxi driver, suffered what were described as "non-survivable" injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Evidence presented in Edinburgh High Court indicated that just 3.3 seconds before the crash, Garden had been traveling at 85 mph. The car was still moving at 34 mph when it struck the house. Mr. Bell's family submitted four victim impact statements.

Garden, who has 90 previous convictions including numerous motoring offenses, was under three driving disqualifications at the time of the incident. When arrested, he told police, "sorry."

The Maserati, purchased by the garage director five years prior for £70,000, was estimated to be worth £40,000 at the time of the theft and was irreparably damaged in the crash. Garden appeared remotely from prison for the hearing and is scheduled to be sentenced on August 21.