A drink-driving e-scooter rider admitted to police he was "steaming" and had 100 percent driven with alcohol, magistrates were told. Harry Norton, a steel metal fabricator from Church Drive, Carrington, pleaded guilty to driving a Wind e-scooter when he was over the limit.
The offence happened in Scotland Road, Basford, on January 22 at 2.22am, when paramedics came to the aid of 22-year-old Norton who had come off his scooter and suffered facial injuries. He was treated in the back of an ambulance.
When police arrived, he said: "I have 100% driven the scooter with alcohol. Yeah, I'm steaming. I've only had four bottles of 'Rona' (Corona lager)." A blood sample showed he had 170 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, over the limit of 80, Nottingham Magistrates' Court heard on Thursday, April 14.
Read more: Concerns over Nottingham's new 'dangerous' e-scooters which are a 'trip hazard'
Norton entered his guilty plea to drink-driving on the scooter when he appeared in court on Thursday morning and received a driving ban for 18 months, a fine of £461, costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £46. Kate MacMillan, mitigating, said: "He doesn't remember a great deal about this incident."
Norton had been drinking in Sherwood and had "no idea" why he got on the scooter, she added. "He doesn't normally behave in such a matter. He thinks he was drinking on an empty stomach. It was four bottles of Corona - not a terribly strong beer.
"He is certainly going to be considerably more cautious in the future. He has a successful career and lives on his own. He was planning to obtain a full licence in the future."
It comes after new e-scooters were rolled out across the city. WIND, the company which operates the e-scooter scheme in the city, confirmed in December the previous model operating in Nottingham would be replaced with the so-called "industry-leading" LINK e-scooter from Superpedestrian.
The neon yellow and grey LINK e-scooters were subsequently rolled out - with the switch of the fleet being completed by Friday, December 17. The new e-scooters feature a range of changes designed to boost safety for users and the general public.
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