Bedford Driving Lessons

Riding home on his mobility scooter at less than 4 mph, Eamonn Donohoe wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry and didn’t appear to be a menace to pedestrians. But when the drunken Irishman ignored a policeman’s attempt to flag him down, the local constabulary decided to take no chances. As Mr Donohoe, 62, was trundling along the pavement near his sheltered bungalow he found himself surrounded by eight police officers and three marked vehicles. One patrol car mounted the kerb to block his way and after failing a roadside breath test the disabled grandfather was locked in police cells for 12 hours, fingerprinted, photographed and had a DNA swab taken. Mr Donohoe, who had drunk six or seven pints during an evening playing dominoes with friends at a local club, was three times over the limit. He later admitted driving a mechanically propelled vehicle whilst over the limit on 20th April and was given a three year driving ban by magistrates at Chesterfield. However, despite the nature of the offence he is legally free to continue riding his scooter. But the bizarre episode has left the retired construction worker from Old Whittington, Chesterfield, feeling disillusioned with the forces of law and order. He said:’I can’t believe how they treated me – anybody would think that I was a bank robber or a member of Al-Qaeda. ‘The police are always saying they’re short of resources, and then go and employ eight officers arresting someone like me. It’s completely mad, and a total waste of public money. More