Man sentenced after e-scooter crash while on drugs

A 20-year-old man has been banned from driving after crashing an electric scooter into a parked car while under the influence of drugs.

Macaulay Whittaker, of Jenkins Street, Trowbridge, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug driving, plus careless driving, driving without a licence and driving without insurance.

He was disqualified from driving for two-and-a-half years and given an unpaid work order at Salisbury Magistrates' Court on 19 December.

Roads policing officer PC Windsor-Hichens called Whittaker's actions "incredibly dangerous".

"Not only did he put other road users and pedestrians at risk, the owner of the vehicle had not long got out of it," she said.

"If Whittaker had collided with him, then he could've caused him a serious injury."

Wiltshire Police said Whittaker was riding an e-scooter at speed down Wicker Hill, Trowbridge, on 18 June when he failed to negotiate a left-hand bend correctly.

He collided with a Honda CR-V parked at the side of the road and was thrown from the scooter.

Whittaker suffered serious head injuries, requiring hospital treatment.

He was later found to have both cannabis and cocaine in his system.

As well as the driving ban, Whittaker received an 18-month community order. He must complete 140 hours of unpaid work and 30 rehab activity requirement days.

PC Windsor-Hichens explained riding an e-scooter was illegal on any roads "unless you are in a trial area – and even then you require a driving licence and insurance to ride legally".

"This is a reminder that there are no trial areas for e-scooters within Swindon or Wiltshire, which means it is against the law to ride any privately owned e-scooters on our roads," she said.

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