Libertines rocker Pete Doherty is banned from driving after being caught riding his e-scooter
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Libertines rocker Pete Doherty is banned from driving after being caught riding his e-scooter while disqualified to search for his missing DOG
- Pete Doherty says he had no idea he was not allowed to ride the e-scooter
- The musician who lives in Margate, Kent, was stopped by police at 1.40am
- Doherty was looking for one of his dogs who had managed to escape
Libertines rocker Pete Doherty has been banned from driving after riding an electric scooter in the middle of the night while searching for one of his dogs.
The musician, who was already on a driving ban after totting up more than 12 points on his licence last year, says he had no idea he was not allowed to ride the e-scooter while disqualified.
But the singer, who lives in Margate, Kent, and runs a hotel in the seaside town, was stopped by police in the early hours of the morning as he rode on a path at 1.40am on October 3.
It emerged during a hearing at Margate Magistrates Court on Friday that before the offence Doherty had been told by police officers – who had stopped him in nearby Broadstairs for selfies – that he was fine to ride it as long as he stayed on the pavement.
He was then stopped again by police attending a 999 call when they saw him riding on the path with his two dogs in the middle of the night, when he was heading home after finding his missing pooch.
The musician (pictured outside court on Friday) who was already on a driving ban after totting up more than 12 points on his licence last year, says he had no idea he was not allowed to ride the e-scooter while disqualified.
Officers asked him to show an insurance certificate, which he was unable to provide but he was sent on his way.
Paul Shingleton, representing Doherty, said it was not until several months later his client received a court summons on charges of driving while disqualified and without insurance.
Mr Shingleton told the court: ‘It was not very clear to all and sundry what the rules were.
‘His dog had escaped and he went to find him and he was on his way back home when he was stopped by police.
‘It wasn’t a case of someone [who is disqualified] driving a car in defiance. The case has an oddness about it with some unusual factors.’
Doherty, 41, pleaded guilty to both charges as well as to another charge of driving a car without insurance in August, before his initial ban.
The Libertines musician pictured with one of his dogs. Doherty was riding one of his scooters at night to try and locate one of the pooches who escaped
He received a £2,000 fine for each offence, totalling £6,000, and was given six points on his licence, taking him over the 12 point limit, meaning a two-year disqualification from driving.
On sentencing, the magistrate said the two stops by police had ‘misled’ Doherty into thinking it was OK to still drive the scooter.
He added: ‘It was a poor exchange – a couple of selfies for some bad information.’
Doherty has had numerous brushes with the law, mainly for drug offences, during his rock career.
Last November Doherty was arrested in Paris on drugs possession charges and fined for allegedly trying to buy cocaine.
In October, the former Babyshambles frontman blamed a broken dashboard light after he was caught speeding four times in just three weeks.
He told Follkestone Magistrates’ Court he could not see how fast he was driving each time he was flashed by a speed camera on the same 30mph stretch in Cliftonville, Kent.
In May 2019, he was forced to stay in hospital after being pricked by a hedgehog when a spine got stuck in his finger while out walking his dogs near his home.
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