Police swooped to arrest a man who had failed to turn up to court to face charges of riding an e-scooter while high on cocaine.
Daniel Payne, 33, was spotted walking along Stanford Avenue on Friday at about 6.30pm, just days after he had been due at Brighton Magistrates Court.
Payne, of Stoneleigh Avenue, was arrested and put in a police van before being brought to court the following morning.
He pleaded guilty to three charges related to him riding the e-scooter in London Road on November 24, 2021 – one of him driving it on a public road while over the specified limit of drugs, using a motor vehicle on a road without insurance and without a licence.
He pleaded guilty to all three charges and was disqualified from driving for 12 months, fined £120 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £36 and costs of £85.
On Friday, another man, Thomas Matthias, 27, also pleaded not guilty to e-scooter related charges.
Matthias was caught riding a Pure Electric scooter in Sillwood Street, round the corner from his home in Sillwood Place, in June last year.
He appeared at Brighton Magistrates Court where he admitted driving without insurance or a valid licence.
Matthias was fined £120 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £34 and costs of £110. Six points was also added to his driving licence.
Court records do not state whether either defendant was riding it on the pavement or the road. However, it is currently illegal to ride scooters anywhere but on private land in most areas of the UK.
The only exceptions are where trials of e-scooter hire schemes are taking place, where riding a privately-owned scooter on public land is still against the law.
This number of police officers for riding a scooter and not appearing in court. Well done. Meanwhile, djihadists and drug dealers are doing their thing with great peace of mind.
The specified drug limit? What is that limit? Without a licence or insurance? Are escootera riders supposed to have them?
The legal limit for Cocaine is 10 micrograms per litre of blood, and it’s not 0 because of environmental contamination (though it’s still effectively zero). He was driving /at all/ without licence or insurance, which is a problem separate from /what/ he was driving.
WTF. I was about to criticise the ridiculous ‘police swoop”, headline – do police swoop? then I saw the photo, how many, to arrest one guy!!! Meanwhile ………
Kids high on eScooters = one in the W column and a fine for the state coffers. Do some proper policing and work for the people you’re supposed to serve. No one gives a cr@p about oiks on eScooters.
J-dilla
Until one of them knocks you down…
Similar risk as a bike or ebike, as long as poeople ride them reasonably sensibly and stick to the roads and cycle lanes it isnt a problem
8 officers to arrest one person! But supposedly they don’t have the resources to deter crime and anti-social behaviour by maintaining foot patrols. If you wonder why our city is covered in graffiti and you can’t go out without seeing and smelling people taking drugs, or even obviously dealing, maybe this is one of the reasons.
E Scooters are ILLEGAL on public roads, and public footpaths, in public parks. Only legal on private property this has been made clear from the start. If people have fallen for advertising by vendors they should have asked at time of purchase. They are a danger on the roads since the fools using them wear black clothes, have no lights or head protection. This idiocy makes them virtually if not totally invisible. They have no insurance if they cause an accident involving a car or if stupid to a member ofthe public on a footpath where they should not be.
Comment about Police unjustified. Since obviously polive officer made call over radio and response made toapprehend bail jumper and vehicles responded.
Your comments are nonsense, otherwise you wouldn’t be allowed to rent them in London and ride them on the road.
The only reason they are illigal is the 1988 transport act which was passed decades before these were even invented. All retailers tell customers the law.
The law is changing in June anyway so that private owners will be able to get insurance.
On a side note 95% of e bikes sold in the UK do not conform to the current law and are ridden illigally.
The police have so much better things to be doing than enforcement of a minor traffic offence. Ever been on the A23 with people flying past at 100mph+? surly that’s more dangerous than Steve from accountants plodding along at 15mph on a scooter. I mean surly road death rates for cars would be a good source of data to use…
I think you’re generalising a bit there. A small number are idiots, the rest ride them pretty sensibly. They’re not really any different to an ebike in terms of speed, weight and danger to the public so police shouldn’t be wasting time with this and definitely shouldn’t be slapping people with £150 confiscation and recovery charge + £300 and 6 points for no insurance, it’s just stupidty and a total waste of time and resources. They’re a great and very green alternative to driving around Brighton and should be encouraged for clearer roads, lower emissions and cleaner air
Further to above post a number of late night e scooter riders usually dressed in black with no lights on their scooters are delivering drugs to order. So the Police have further justification to stop them.
Further to above post a number of late night e scooter riders usually dressed in black with no lights on their scooters are delivering drugs to order. So the Police have further justification to stop them. In
This is a joke people are running about all over Brighton on electric scooters which are supposed to be illegal and the police do nothing
Peter, it seems you have mis understood the content of the article, the Police have done something…
They turn a blind eye because there’s basically not much point enforcing the law with them. A small number are idiots, the rest ride them pretty sensibly. They’re not really any different to an ebike in terms of speed, weight and danger to the public so police shouldn’t be wasting time with this and definitely shouldn’t be slapping people with £150 confiscation and recovery charge + £300 and 6 points for no insurance, it’s just stupidty and a total waste of time and resources. They’re a great and very green alternative to driving around Brighton and should be encouraged for clearer roads, lower emissions and cleaner air