Walkers forced to move aside as 29-year-old tore along cycle path on electric bike

A 29-year-old with a history of driving offences has wound up in court again after tearing around a cycle path at speeds of up to 40mph.Matthew Cook, of Wisbech Road in South Lynn, pleaded guilty to an array of charges at the town’s magistrates’ court on Thursday.He admitted driving without due care and attention, drug-driving, and driving while disqualified and without insurance.

The offences were all committed on October 21 last year, when two on-duty police officers witnessed him riding an unregistered electric bike on a cycle path in North Lynn – just one month after he was banned.There were numerous members of the public in the area at the time, and many were forced to step onto a grass verge to avoid Cook as he sped by.The officers reported that he was travelling at speeds between 30-40mph. After being arrested, tests revealed he had 9.8mcg of cannabis per litre of blood. The legal limit to drive is 2mcg.Cook is currently serving a 24-month community order consisting of rehabilitation activities, unpaid work and thinking skills sessions. He breached the order in March last year when he also drove dangerously through Lynn, using an electric bike to do ‘wheelies’ on High Street and the Tuesday Market Place. When he appeared in court in September, he was banned from driving for 12 months.On Thursday, the court heard he has 13 previous convictions for 28 offences.Mitigating, solicitor Ruth Johnson urged magistrates to ask the probation service for a response to supervision report on Cook before he is sentenced. “He is a young lad who is really not in the greatest of health,” she said.“There is worry hanging over him at the moment.”Magistrates agreed to order the report, and Cook will return to court on March 27 to learn his fate.He has been released on unconditional bail, and his driving ban continues.