Busted over the limit on mobility scooter

AN elderly ex-serviceman who got on the rum on Armistice Day has been busted for the drunken operation of his mobility scooter in a dangerous failed attempt to ride home.

John Andrew Kane, 74, pleaded guilty in the Ingham Magistrates Court on Thursday to driving over the middle-alcohol limit on a motorised wheelchair on Davidson Street on November 12. Senior Queensland Police Service prosecutor Mark Fenlon said an Ingham Police patrol found Kane driving his registered scooter down the middle of Davidson Street.

He said Kane admitted to drinking about five cans of beer and a few rums at a mate’s house as part of Armistice Day commemorations the previous day. Mr Fenlon said Kane, who blew 0.110, more than double the limit, did not have a driver’s licence but did not need one to operate his scooter.

“Given the circumstances, police did contemplate giving an adult caution but (could not) because it was a drink-drive matter.”

Kane, who was self-represented, was asked to speak on his behalf. “I was in the Army, I’m an ex-serviceman, and on Remembrance Day I just had a few rums and carried on and I knew I shouldn’t have been driving.” Magistrate Richard Lehmann noted Kane had a comparatively clean driving record. “I also take into account it was a motorised wheelchair where in effect you really put yourself at risk more than anybody else because if you come in contact with a car you’re going to come off second best.” Kane was convicted, fined $500 and disqualified from driving for the minimum three months.