Scotland’s Justice Secretary has suggested a licensing scheme for e-bikes and e-scooters as ministers look at concerns over anti-social behaviour and crime linked to the vehicles.
Neil Gray said more “could and should and must be done” to make it easier for officers to track offenders and detain vehicles. He said any move would involve working with the UK Government, which controls vehicle regulations and licences.
Complaints raised in Holyrood
The issue came up as David Linden, deputy convenor of Holyrood’s Criminal Justice Committee, told the minister that MSPs were hearing more complaints about “young men dressed head to toe in black, sometimes wearing face coverings, zooming around on souped-up e-bikes and e-scooters”.
He said the vehicles were “as well as being highly dangerous, they’re sometimes connected to drugs and organised crime” and urged the Government to “get a grip on the issue”.
Gray says problem is also being seen in Airdrie
Mr Gray said he had been made aware of the same problem in his Airdrie constituency. He told MSPs he would work with the UK Government on the issue “because I think there is more that could and should and must be done around the licensing of these vehicles so that the police’s work in tracking and detaining individuals and their vehicles can be progressed”, before promising “that is an issue I will be taking forward”.
The Justice Secretary said he had also asked Police Scotland whether the force needed more powers “to ensure that they are enabled to capture and to deter this type of behaviour”.
Focus on police powers and wider behaviour
“There are two parts to it,” he added. “One is that culture that we’re talking about (people) dressed all in black with balaclavas on.
“There is a cross-section across football hooliganism, violence against women and girls, antisocial behaviour, and organised criminal gang activity that I think we have much more work to do to support what is a minority of young boys, but is certainly an issue that we’re facing with young boys.”
Mr Gray said that while the majority of young men were “fine, upstanding citizens” and “good, law-abiding folk” there were some being “fuelled by online misogyny”.
He said he was now working with police “around what powers they need in order to deter this”.
“It’s not just e-bikes and e-scooters,” he said. “It’s off-road bikes, it’s quad bikes, and that work is under way.”
He told MSPs he was “hoping to be able to have news for colleagues on that in due course”.
The UK Government has been approached for comment.
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