Drunken Ned Goes On Run From Police In 8MPH Scooter

Mar 23 2008 By Gordon Currie

A DRUNKEN teenager led police on a low-speed chase after stealing a mobility scooter.

Derek Rodgers spent half an hour on the vehicle, which has a top speed of just eight miles per hour.

The 17-year-old only got round the block once before the battery ran out - although he was too drunk to realise. He told police he thought he was driving as "fast as f***".

The joyride was similar to the Irn-Bru advert in which an old woman trundles along on her invalid scooter - before ramraiding a shop.

Motorists watched in horror as Rodgers weaved erratically on the pavements in Letham, Perth.

He took the scooter, which belonged to a friend's disabled mother, at 7am after a night drinking vodka and Irn-Bru.

He was two-and-a-half times the limit when collared.

Rodgers told officers: "Guilty man, as charged."

Last week he admitted drink-driving without insurance at Perth Sheriff Court.

He was banned from driving for two years and fined £500.

A Tayside Police source said: "There's noway he could have had control of it at any speed.

"But he only posed a danger to himself since he wasn't able to go much quicker than walking pace."