Banned Chesterfield driver fined for riding E-scooter in town centre

A Chesterfield man in his 40s has been fined for riding an E-scooter while banned from driving.
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Banned driver Richard Hill was seen driving the electric vehicle on Vicar Lane in the town centre on April 10 without a helmet - parking up outside TG Hughes.

Prosecutor Fatima Laher told Chesterfield Magistrates Court how Hill - also uninsured to drive the scooter - had other motoring offences on his record.

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As well as a previous conviction for driving while disqualified, the 43-year-old had served a four-month custodial sentence for dangerous driving.

Banned driver Richard Hill was seen driving the electric vehicle on Vicar Lane. Image for illustration only.Banned driver Richard Hill was seen driving the electric vehicle on Vicar Lane. Image for illustration only.
Banned driver Richard Hill was seen driving the electric vehicle on Vicar Lane. Image for illustration only.

Hill’s solicitor Steve Brint told the court how Hill’s E-scooter - worth over £1,000 - only had a top speed of 15mph.

He said: “He genuinely believed it was not a mechanically-propelled vehicle that prevented him from driving it - he thought he was being eco-friendly.”

Mr Brint described how Hill - who police in Chesterfield “knew by sight” - had a 20-year drug habit, adding: “It’s fair to say, going back 20 years, Richard Hill has not really taken much account of what the court imposed on him.”

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However he said after Hill’s release from custody in December 2019 he had “turned his back on crime”.

Mr Brint said: “He has been clean for illicit substances for quite some period of time.”

Hill, of Hady Crescent, Chesterfield, admitted driving while banned and while uninsured, driving on a footpath and riding a motorcycle without protective headgear.

He was handed 12 weeks jail suspended for 12 months and a 12-week curfew between 8pm-7am, banned from driving for two years, fined £120 and made to pay £85 court costs and £128 victim surcharge.

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