A TEENAGER has been banned from the road for a year after he was stopped by police and found to be over the drug drive limit – while riding an electric scooter.

When police stopped Ciaran King after they saw him cutting across a junction in Newtown on July 24, they noticed a strong smell of cannabis coming from him, and the 18-year-old was arrested after he failed a roadside drug test.

King, of Newtown, told magistrates sitting in Welshpool on Tuesday, November 22, that he did not know the same drink and drug drive rules applied to scooter riders.

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Prosecutor Helen Tench said officers saw King riding the electric scooter on namely Dolfor Road and a bus lane on Ffordd Croesawdy and decided to stop him. 

A drug wipe proved positive and a later blood sample revealed there was namely 3.5 micrograms of cannabis in his system at the time – the legal limit is 2 micrograms.

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“He was seen riding along the bus lane towards the train station," Ms Tench said. "They stopped him and there was a strong smell of cannabis. A roadside test was positive and he was arrested.”

Paul Inns, representing King, who pleaded guilty at a previous hearing, said: “Before this offence he has been stopped by police and had another scooter taken off him, he was told he would be reported, but there has been no further explanation."

He added: “He holds his hands up, he is an occasional user of cannabis but he is in training to become a barber."

Magistrates disqualified King from driving for 12 months. He was also fined £120 and ordered to pay a £48 surcharge and £85 costs.