Two Newcastle students banned from driving after riding e-scooters whilst drunk

Two Newcastle students have been banned from driving after they were caught by police riding e-scooters whilst drunk.

Alisdair Anderson and George Breese, both 21 years old, failed road side breath tests late at night after travelling home from nights out on 18th and 19th January 2023.

Anderson, a final year Economics student at Newcastle University, gave a reading of 62mcg in 100ml of breath and Breese gave a reading of 51mcg. The legal limit in the UK is 35mcg.

They both pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol and have been banned for driving for 12 months as well as a £120 fine and must pay £85 costs and a £48 victim surcharge.

Prosecutor, Lillian Yanes Hellevik, said police were driving along Osborne Road on 18th January 2023 at around 12:20am when they saw Anderson on a scooter.

According to the Chronicle, Ms Yanes Hellevik told the court: “They could see the defendant was moving from the pavement to the road and swerving in the middle of the road.

“They stopped the defendant and spoke with him. He told them he had been drinking. He was arrested after failing a roadside breath test.”

Michael Gibson, defending, said: “As he was walking back from town with friends in the early hours of the morning, they came across these orange scooters.

“The idea came to them collectively to ride them. He didn’t know it would be treated the same as if he was driving a vehicle. He rides it for one or two minutes until he’s stopped” continued Gibson.

Breese was stopped by police on Sandyford Road on 19th January 2023.

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Defending, Sophie Allinson, said Breese was ashamed to find himself in court. She said: “These scooters are parked up in student areas and next to the nightlife. It’s not well publicised that they are under the same legislation as a motor vehicle.”

In 2021, six students were arrested in Jesmond for the same reason after a number of complaints from residents.

The Neuron e-scooters were rolled out around Newcastle in early 2021 and will stay until 2024, after an extension was negotiated between Neuron and Newcastle City Council.

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