[jambutty]

Geoffrey Dornan, a roller-skating pensioner has been fined £300 plus £1,800 costs after he was filmed skating along a street in Southport.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7908446.stm

My first reaction was to sympathise with Geoffrey Dornan and to label the Sefton Council with words that are not printable in this forum.

But having viewed the CCTV of his foray around the precinct and his interview, that sympathy dissipated rather rapidly.

It is difficult to judge his speed from the CCTV as he flashed around but it was certainly faster than the fastest disabled buggie, which I believe is 8 mph and in any case should not be driven at that speed on pavements and pedestrian areas.

It is not known if Sefton Council has also taken cyclists to court for similar offences or people in self propelled wheel chairs or those disabled motorised buggies. For surely the by-law covers them too. “The by-law states that ‘no person shall skate, slide or ride on rollers, skateboards or other self-propelled vehicles in such a manner as to cause danger or annoyance’.”

Geoffrey Dornan came across as an arrogant old git who thought that he was above the law. His roller blading antics would be seen as, at the very least, annoying and again judging from the CCTV, dangerous. Whizzing around at speeds in excess of 4 mph amongst pedestrians can only be dangerous in spite of his claims to the contrary.

However the North Sefton Magistrates' Court went over then top in fining him £300 with £1,800 costs. Surely to goodness a restraining order would have sufficed. Geoffrey Dornan is appealing but if the appeal is unsuccessful it has been reported that he will have to sell his car and maybe his house to pay the appeal costs.

I suspect that his attitude in court, as was reported, had something to do with the level of fine. You don’t argue with the bench and interrupt.