In the Magistrates’ Court this morning (Thursday), local man Thomas De La Rosa, 24, was fined £300 for Driving with Alcohol Concentration over the Limit and fined a further £300 for Possession of a Class A Drug.

The court heard that, shortly before 6am on Saturday 2 March of this year, the attention of officers on patrol on Europa Road was drawn to an E-Scooter travelling southwards.  The machine was travelling unusually slowly and in an unsteady manner.

When the rider was stopped, officers immediately detected that his eyes were glazed and that his breath smelled of alcohol.

In a roadside test, he blew 76ug and he was therefore arrested on suspicion of the drink-driving offence.  When asked if he was carrying any illegal substances, he handed over a wrapper containing, what he said was, cocaine so he was further arrested on suspicion of Possession of a Class A Drug.

Once at New Mole House, he blew 66ug on the evidential machine. Meanwhile the contents of the wrapper were tested and gave a positive reading for cocaine.