LATEST NEWS: 15-year-old handed six penalty points and fined for using E-scooter without insurance and licence

ALMOST £4,000 in fines have been handed out and penalty points to people using electric scooters illegally in Bradford, or who have been tried at the city's courts.

Eleven individuals have been dealt with at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates' Court over the last six months for offences relating to the powered scooters.

They ordered to pay £4946 in total - £3786 of which was fines - for their misdemeanours.

One man - Kristian Jano, 21, of Tempest Road in Leeds - was even disqualified from driving for six months, after riding a black e-scooter on the road without insurance.

Most of the cases revolve around this offence.

Privately owned e-scooters are classed as "powered transporters" in law and can only be used on private land.

It is an offence to ride one on the pavement or footpaths, with special legal exceptions made for mobility scooters and wheelchairs.

Technically you can use an e-scooter on the road, but you must comply with all regulations car users abide by - such as, being insured, paying vehicle tax and having a full or provisional driving licence.

Five of the eleven fined were caught using the scooters on roads in the Bradford district.

Four of them live in the city, while one resides in Halifax.

Altogether they were ordered to pay £2237 (£1686 in fines).

The largest fine was handed to Gyula Toth, 29, of Tivoli Place in the Canterbury area, who also received six points on his driving licence.

He was caught riding an e-scooter on Ransdale Road, near his home, on May 6 last year, without insurance.

Toth was proved guilty by Single Justice Procedure on October 10 in 2021.

The 29-year-old was ordered to pay £816 in total, which included a £660 fine, a £66 surcharge to fund victim services and costs of £90.

This was to be paid by November 11 that year.

The court payment - and even fine - costs more than most children and adult e-scooters sold by popular brand Segway-Ninebot.

Meanwhile, a youngster from Bradford - who cannot be named for legal reasons - was fined for using his unbranded e-scooter on Great Horton Road without insurance on July 22 last year.

The 17-year-old was proved guilty in his absence on October 25 and then pleaded guilty when it came to sentencing a month later (November 8).

He was ordered to pay £72 (£50 fine and £22 surcharge) and given six points on his driving licence.

The teenager's parent or guardian had to pay the balance by November 29, 2021.

Five of the other illegal e-scooter riders were from and caught in Leeds, with the sixth individual found using one of the powered transporters on a road in Halifax.

Altogether the six offenders were ordered to pay £2709 (£2100 in fines).

Previously mentioned Jano was caught on Tempest Road, in the Hunslet Carr area of Leeds on June 15 last year.

His first offence - of riding on the road without insurance - brought a fine of £120 (as well as a £34 surcharge and costs of £90) and the disqualification.

The latter was obligatory due to repeat offending.

Jano was also handed six penalty points on his driving record for using the e-scooter when his licence did not allow him to do so and then a further three points for riding it without due care and attention.

The 21-year-old pleaded guilty to all three offences on October 25 last year and was sentenced a month later (November 22, 2021).

His guilty pleas were taken into account when sentencing.

The eldest culprit in Bradford was 39-year-old, Kristaps Seikstulis, while the oldest overall was 42-year-old, Michael Bhavra.

Seikstulis, of Englefield Crescent in the Holme Wood area, was found using an e-scooter with no registration number on the main road running through his neighbourhood - Broadstone Way.

This was on June 8 last year and Seikstulis had no insurance.

The 39-year-old pleaded guilty to the offence on October 18 last year and was ordered to pay £400 in total that same day.

This included, a £276 fine, a £34 surcharge and costs of £90, to be paid by November 8, 2021.

Seikstulis also pleaded guilty to driving a motor vehicle otherwise than in accordance with a licence, in relation to using the e-scooter.

His guilty pleas were taken into account when sentencing.

Meanwhile, Bhavra, of Raynville Avenue in the Kirkstall area of Leeds, was spotted just over five miles from his home on Ivy Street on an e-scooter.

This was on July 7 last year and he was on the road with no insurance.

Bhavra faced just that single charge and was proved guilty by Single Justice Procedure on January 4 this year.

The 42-year-old was ordered to pay £816 in total by January 25, including a £660 fine, £66 surcharge and costs of £90.

E-scooters have been a point of contention throughout the pandemic and over the last year, as city-wide rental trials of the cleaner travel method have been implemented by local authorities and their popularity has grown.

Confusion often stems from the legal differences in using a rental scooter run by official schemes - which ensure riders are insured and have the relevant licence so they can ride within the law - and purchasing and using your own vehicle.

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “People need to remember that using privately-owned e-scooters on any public road is illegal.

"The only e-scooters permitted on roads are those that can be rented through a recognised trial scheme.”

This is the case in York, but users can still fall foul of other rules that you might think only apply to car drivers.

Jack Armstrong, 21, of York was banned from driving for almost two years last September after using an e-scooter when he was three times over the drink-drive limit.

The 21-year-old was caught by police when he was spotted riding erratically on Parliament Street, which is near the historic and famous Shambles.