E-scooter rider given ban for drink-driving on Isle of Wight

A woman is thought to be the first person in the UK to be found guilty of drink-driving while using an e-scooter.

Kyah Jordan, 20, was almost three times over the limit when she went through a red light and almost crashed into an unmarked police car, a court heard.

Magistrates heard she had been drinking double shots of rum before riding the e-scooter through Newport on the Isle of Wight in December .

She was banned from driving for two years and given a community order.

Magistrates said the e-scooter was classed as a "motor vehicle, the same as a moped, the same as a bus".

The court heard Jordan, of Herbert Road, New Milton, had been drinking with friends before they decided to pick up a publicly available e-scooter from a nearby supermarket.

Prosecutor Liz Miller said that at about 22:30 GMT police in an unmarked armed response vehicle noticed Jordan, who had never ridden an e-scooter before, run a red light before "narrowly" missing them.

Police said after the incident the driver of their vehicle "would have been injured without doubt" if there had been a crash.

After chasing the e-scooter on foot, police stopped Jordan and breathalysed her, which revealed she was nearly three times the legal alcohol limit.

Henry Farley, defending, said Jordan could not have posed a danger to anyone because she was travelling slowly on the scooter, which was limited to 12.5mph.

He said she "didn't recall" a near-miss but said she admitted she had been "naive" to use the vehicle.

As well as a driving ban, Jordan was handed a community order of 12 months and ordered to carry out 40 hours of unpaid work.

The Beryl e-scooter scheme was introduced on the island in December at the start of a 12-month trial. Twenty-five scooters were initially available with plans to add a further 125.

Residents wishing to use the scooters download an app, input their driving licence details and set off.

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