Dersingham man admits drink-driving on scooter

A teenager who had been drinking alcohol admitted to police that he had then ridden a scooter in Dersingham.

Officers had been called to Balmoral Close to reports of three people drinking and riding the SYM Jet 50 at just after 7am.

They found the scooter with a warm engine and arrested the registered owner before intoxicated Ishmael Shah, 19, fronted up.

“He said he was the one who was riding it,” prosecutor Gemma Lee told Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

Shah, of Holyrood Drive, Dersingham, was arrested after giving a roadside reading of 61 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. In custody he gave a reading of 50, still above the legal limit of 35.

“Due to lack of evidence, no further action was taken against the registered owner of the moped,” added Miss Lee.

Shah, who had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to drink-driving and having no insurance in the incident on February 16, 2021.

Hugh Cauthery, mitigating, said his client should be given credit for his actions with the police which had led to the charge and conviction.

He added: “He approached the police voluntarily. If he hadn’t made that voluntary acceptance, unless someone else had said it was him, police would not have been able to work out who was riding it.

“He had been drinking with friends and relatives and he accepts that he shouldn’t have driven.”

Shah was disqualified from driving for 14 months, which can be reduced with the successful completion of a drink-driver rehabilitation course.

He was also fined £90 and ordered to pay £50 costs plus a £34 victim surcharge. There was no separate penalty for the insurance offence.