An alcoholic who took a six miles per hour mobility scooter on a trip to the shops has been banned from driving.

Able-bodied Darren Wells, 37, had been at a friend’s funeral wake the night before and had woken up a little worse for wear.

Wells told Croydon Magistrates’ Court on Friday, June 20, he had woken up on April 24 and decided rather than walk to the shop, he would take the mobility scooter.

Wells, of Hunters Close, Wallington, told the court: “I thought it would be faster to take the scooter. It wasn’t.”

Asked what speed the scooter was capable of, Wells told the court: “Well it ain’t ready for the Grand Prix yet.”

Wells arrived at the shop, but after mistaking the reverse gear for the forward gear, he ploughed into the shop’s window.

He told the court: “I offered to pay him there and then, but he said he needed a crime reference number for his insurance. So I got nicked.”

The case hinged on whether or not a mobility scooter was classed as mechanically propelled under the Road Traffic Act, and if Wells qualified for one under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act.

The court heard how Wells had only bought the scooter from a friend for £50 because he “couldn’t afford to maintain a car”.

Incidentally, the wake was for the man whom Wells had bought the mobility scooter off for £50 a month previously.

Father-of-three Wells faced jail after breaching a 12-month suspended sentence for assaulting a police officer, but magistrates said it “would not be in his interest to send him to prison”.

Chairwoman of the bench Mrs Angela Glancy told Wells: “We are satisfied the scooter was not being used in accordance with legislation. If you are caught driving, including the mobility scooter, you will go to prison.”

Wells has been disqualified from driving for 17 months provided he undertakes a drink-driving awareness programme as well as being ordered to pay £200 in compensation to the shop owner on top of a £150 fine, £50 in costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

At an earlier hearing Wells had pleaded guilty to criminal damage for the window for which he was fined £110.