Coventry man killed in e-scooter crash 'didn't stand a chance'

The mother of a man who suffered catastrophic internal injuries when his e-scooter hit a tree is calling for tougher laws on the sale of the vehicles.

Paul Mulqueen, 41, crashed in Coventry on 3 June and died later the following day in hospital.

Pat Mulqueen says she wants more to be done to highlight the dangers of the vehicles.

"I don't want anyone else to die like Paul," she said.

Her son had owned and ridden an e-scooter for about a year, she said.

An electrician by trade, he had been working for agencies in supermarkets and as a PCR tester during the coronavirus pandemic.

"He was starting work at two and sometimes four in the morning so he couldn't get to work any other way," she said. "It was cheap and convenient.

"When Paul hit the tree, the handlebars went into his body and caused such awful internal damage. He didn't stand a chance."

Mr Mulqueen suffered cardiac arrest three times and internal bleeding, and his life-support machine was turned off on 4 June.

Mrs Mulqueen, who is partially sighted, is now backing a campaign by the National Federation of the Blind calling for the government to take immediate action to stop the selling of private e-scooters.

The vehicles can only be used on public roads if rented as part of a government-backed trial and privately owned vehicles are only allowed to be ridden on private land.

"I was at a shop last week where I could buy food and an e-scooter," she said. "It's wrong you could just buy one off the shelf."

Tom McNeil, assistant police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands, is calling for a ban on the sale of e-scooters to the public while tougher regulations are drawn up.

"We believe that retailers are profiting off the confusion of the public," he said.

"People are buying e-scooters thinking they can use them on public ground, and we know that they can't and the retailers know that as well.

"We're asking them to develop a moral backbone and stop selling something they know many people can't use [legally]."

Mrs Mulqueen said she did not think her son would have known what the law was.

"I just want to prevent other families going through the pain and loss we are experiencing," she said.

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