Omagh man failed to stop for police while riding electric scooter

AN OMAGH man has been banned from driving for six months after failing to stop for police while riding an electric scooter.

Martin McGovern (41), of James Street, was convicted of driving without insurance and failing to stop for police at Omagh Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

The court heard that, just after midnight on May 16, a police patrol on the Killyclogher Road in Omagh spotted a man, identified as McGovern, driving an electric scooter on a footpath towards the town centre.

The police, in a marked car, activated their lights and siren and signalled for the defendant to stop.

Having continued his journey on his scooter, the police car pulled up beside him and waved out their window for him to stop.

McGovern continued for another 100 metres before the car pulled in front of him at an angle to stop him.

Upon speaking with the defendant, it was revealed that he had no insurance for the electric scooter.

The court noted that McGovern had been disqualified from driving for ten years in the South for dangerous driving.

Defence counsel Joe McCann told the court that the electric scooter was essentially a ‘child’s toy’, which cost £800, adding that it had never been returned to McGovern since the incident.

He further explained that as a lawyer, it would be difficult to explore the intricacies of insurance for the electric vehicle, never mind for the defendant to know that the scooter had to be insured.

He added that the scooter could not be insured, as no company would accept an application for insurance on such a vehicle.

On failing to stop for police, Mr McCann said he had not stopped because of a ‘misunderstanding’.

District judge Ted Magill disqualified McGovern from driving for six months and fined him
£50.