Woman motorist banned after police catch her drink-driving... on a 2.4mph mobility scooter

Woman motorist banned after police catch her drink-driving... on a 2.4mph mobility scooter

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:14 AM on 15th January 2009

A woman has been banned from driving for 20 months after being caught on a 2.4mph supermarket mobility scooter trying to get home after a drunken night out.

Amanda Leaff, 46, was more than twice the drink-drive limit when she was spotted 'driving erratically' by an off-duty police officer as she attempted to negotiate the 10-mile journey to her house.

She said she had taken the buggy from an Asda store to save herself the taxi fare home.

The court heard the journey would have taken her four hours.


A drunk woman travelled two-and-a-half miles on a mobility scooter before police stopped her. She was given a 20-month driving ban for being twice the legal limit

Her solicitor Stephen Krebbs told magistrates at Oldham, Greater Manchester: 'It was an awfully long way for her to go.

'She managed to get two-and-a-half miles until she was stopped. It was a surprise she got as far as she did. It was a risk to herself and other road users.'

He said she had planned to drive 10 miles into the centre of Manchester and then through Piccadilly to her home in Stretford.

'She planned to return the scooter to her local Asda the following day,' he said.

The court heard how it would have taken Leaff more than four hours to complete the journey, had she not been caught at around 10.45pm on November 12.

She admitted charges of taking without consent and driving a mobility scooter while unfit through drink.

Magistrates banned her from driving for 20 months and ordered her to pay £240.

Leaff had been visiting a friend in a pub in Chadderton, the court heard. After several hours of drinking, she took the motorised shopping scooter because the heel of her friend's shoe had snapped off.

They then drove it to a friend's house nearby and two hours later, Leaff decided to set off home on the scooter.

Oldham magistrates heard that when police stopped Leaff she became abusive. She recorded 77mg of alcohol on her breath - the legal driving limit is 35mg.

A spokesman for Asda said after the hearing: 'The scooters, although very practical and robust, are not really designed for road use.'

'They are best suited to flat surfaces as in supermarkets, due to the very low wheelbase.

'Every scooter missing from our premises is a vehicle less for our disabled shoppers to use.'

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1117164/Woman-motorist-banned-police-catch-drink-driving--2-4mph-mobility-scooter.html