Police in Ayrshire are clamping down on the problems around e-bikes being used across the community, sometimes to commit criminal offences. The ongoing campaign was revealed by Sgt Will Thomson at last Wednesday’s meeting of Irvine Community Council.
Police gather intelligence on e-bike misuse
Sgt Thomson said: “There is a lot of focus around e-bikes and everyone around the table will know what I am talking about – e-bikes and e-scooters. They are about somewhere whether it is part of anti-social behaviour or conducting themselves in some other manner, or being used in committing a crime.
“We are trying to gather as much information as possible on these people. We are trying to gather as much info as possible. In some cases we can approach the Procurator Fiscal for warrants when traffic offences are committed on these vehicles. We are getting there but need information from the public. People can speak to us anonymously or otherwise. Information is coming in.”
Questions over parental penalties
Community Council member Jean Walker asked if someone was caught with an e-bike and caught, did parents get points on their licence and fined. Sgt Thomson said: “It depends on circumstances – we have seized a number of them but we certainly have the support of the Procurator Fiscal service in relation to this. The more info we get in the more action that we can take, on associated crimes in relation to the use of these.”
The police chief said he was not aware of parents being fined or given points at the moment but he would look more into it. He added: “We will use the force of whatever legislation we have to try and combat this as it has become a bit of an issue which affects everywhere, not just Irvine.”
Rise in incidents reported in Irvine
Meanwhile, more than 900 incidents were reported to police in the Irvine area in the past month. Sergeant Thomson revealed that between September 7 and October 7 there were 942 incidents reported, which was “at the higher end of the scale”.
Of those, 338 crimes were reported, of which 172 have been detected and the remainder are under investigation. Police are currently focusing on the Operation Moonbeam campaign, which involved focusing on fireworks and bonfires in the run-up to Guy Fawkes night. Any information on these issues would be appreciated.
