Banned driver on e-scooter accused of knocking down a four-year-old playing in the street
A banned driver allegedly boarded an e-scooter and struck a four-year-old boy playing in the street before leaving the scene, a court heard.
Michael Harte, 34, is accused of being on the device at the time of the collision in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim which left the child with cuts and in hysterics.
Police claimed he was later pursued and detained before telling officers: “Happy days, have you got evidence?”
Harte, of Glenville Park in Newtownabbey, appeared at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on charges of dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, and using a motor vehicle without insurance.
He also faces counts of failing to remain at the scene or report an accident which caused injury.
Police received a report that the boy was allegedly struck by an e-scooter driven by Harte in the Abbey Glen Crescent area on Monday afternoon. The child had been playing on a toy push motorbike outside his home at the time of the collision.
His mother discovered him screaming and suffering from cuts and pain in his back while Harte was observed close to the scooter, the court heard.
An investigating detective said: “She heard the defendant say her son had come behind a parked car and that he didn’t see him.
“The child was absolutely hysterical after the collision and was taken to A&E for assessment.”
Harte was spotted near his home later that afternoon but allegedly fled from police before being chased and detained after running through alleyways in the area.
“When he was arrested and cautioned he replied ‘Happy days, have you got evidence on here?’” the detective disclosed. “In custody he said to an officer ‘I’m going to pull you through court and waste your time’.”
Defence counsel Paul Burns argued there is no suggestion that the e-scooter belonged to Harte. He also suggested that the legal requirements for a licence and insurance to use the transport devices may not be widely understood.
“This is an accident on one of these scooters where a large number of people don’t fully realise their capabilities,” Mr Burns added.
Harte was refused bail and remanded in custody following the hearing on Wednesday.
District Judge Steven Keown ruled: “The risk is unmanageable, it is an appalling set of facts.”