Drink-driver – riding a 3mph scooter

10:27pm Wednesday 9th January 2008

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A DISABLED man has been prosecuted for drink-driving after riding his "3mph" mobility scooter while four times the limit.

Thomas Lowry, 59, would not have committed an offence had he remained on the pavement, Burnley magistrates were told.

But he fell foul of the law after travelled into the road - where drink-driving laws become applicable for the scooters.

Police saw Lowry's scooter in Daneshouse Road, Burnley "swerving all over the road", causing vehicles to manoeuvre around him.

When officers approached, he had an open bottle of vodka in the scooter's basket and was "clearly very drunk", the court heard.

Magistrates banned Lowry, who had previous drink- drive convictions, from driving a car for three years, despite the fact that he does not use one due to his disabilities. They were unable to ban him from using the scooter as it does not need a licence or insurance.

After the case, Lowry, of Belgrave Court, Burnley, said he regretted what he had done and had learned his lesson, but felt the police over-reacted.

An RAC foundation spokesman said: "If he has been drunk and in charge of any type of vehicle on the road, he is dangerous."

Road policing unit sergeant Gareth Hill, who led the investigation, said he had never come across such a prosecution before.

Lowry admitted drink- driving following the incident on June 8. As well as the ban, Lowry, who walks using two sticks, has little sense of balance and also suffers from asthma, was fined £50, with £30 costs and must also pay a £15 victim surcharge.

Sentencing, the bench told him that under normal circumstances he would have been facing jail.

When the chairman told Lowry he had been a risk to himself and the general public, he replied: "It only goes about 3mph."

Lowry, a recovering alcoholic who took up drinking after his wife died a week before the incident, said he had not got back on the £3,000 scooter drunk again.

John Nuttall, defending, said Lowry was upset and lonely and had decided to drive to see his sons who lived a short distance away.