AN ISLE of Wight man who drank-drove an e-scooter after celebrating New Year's Eve in Newport, was caught after police saw him fall off it at town centre traffic lights. 

Ieuan Phillips, of Milne Court, Hunnyhill, admitted drink-driving on January 1, when he appeared at the Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court on Friday, March 3. 

Police on patrol stopped at traffic lights in St James's Street and watched as Phillips approached on an e-scooter unbalanced, said Liz Miller, prosecuting.

Once Phillips reached the lights and stopped, he fell off the scooter and into the road. 

Officers quizzed him whether he had been drinking. Phillips, with no previous convictons, said he'd "had a few".

After failing a roadside breath test, the 26-year-old was arrested and taken to nearby Newport Police Station, where he blew 63 microgrammes. The legal limit is 35. 

For Phillips, Barry Arnett said: "To clarify — he didn't fall flat on his face.

"He wasn't very good at braking, so when he braked, it stopped and he stepped off the scooter — well, you could say, fell off. He clearly shouldn't have been on it.

"It was New Year's Eve, he'd been out, with no intention of driving, and got on a bus to go home.

"He didn't feel well — because he'd been drinking — got off the bus, felt better and decided to walk. Then he sees a Beryl scooter.

"He had the app for it and got on one. He didn't even realise, or stop to think, if he was covered. I'm sure it's in the terms and conditions, but no one ever reads those anyway.

"He was very co-operative with the police and their procedures.

"He feels aggrieved with himself, because he got the bus, then got off. He's young and did something he regrets."

Phillips, a seasonal housekeeper, was banned from driving for 17 months, with a £120 fine, £85 costs and a £48 surcharge.

When sentencing, presiding magistrate, Janice Routledge said: "E-scooters are motorised vehicles. Hopefully, by this case being reported (in the County Press), more people will realise that."