Debate contribution: Antisocial Scrambler and e-Scooter Use

Debate contribution by Mr Matthew O'Toole on 21 April 2026.

MLA

Mr Matthew O'Toole

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

21 April 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Antisocial Scrambler and e-Scooter Use

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5497987

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Not in south Derry, but, out the back of my house, a neighbour of mine — I will not name him, because he would not appreciate it — was a big scrambler person. The less said about that the better. It is true that there are lots of young people who enjoy scrambler use. Some of them get into motor sport later in life. It can be a positive recreation. It is important, however, not to trivialise the consequences of the misuse of such vehicles. While we can acknowledge that many young people enjoy using such vehicles and can do so in a healthy way — Robbie Butler, who is not here any more, mentioned, for example, the use of open space in Lisburn in his constituency in order to give young people the space to use them — it is a plague in lots of communities. You can, on the one hand, acknowledge that people can use the vehicles for positive recreation and, on the other hand, say that there is huge and widespread misuse of them that is plaguing ordinary people, in particular the elderly, the vulnerable, people who are sight-disabled, those with pets and those moving about the city. Members referred to the tragic circumstances of Valerie Armstrong, who died in Colin Glen a decade ago. She was a young mother with young children. There is no trivialising the loss of that life or, indeed, that of Grace Lynch, whose name has gone to the creation of Grace's law in the South. It is true, as multiple Members mentioned, including the AERA Minister, that some but not all of Grace's law is already on the statute book in the North. Part of the purpose of today is to get consensus on moving forward the operational response. We and others make no apology for talking about operational matters, as it were, on the Floor of the Assembly. Obviously, the Policing Board is the practical means by which people ask questions of the police directly, but there is nothing wrong with MLAs talking in the Chamber about operational matters that affect their constituents, particularly when they relate to public safety. That does not mean that we are second-guessing the decisions of individual police officers. We will support the DUP amendment, which makes interesting points, including on the increased use of regulation and drones. It has been a useful debate. I will run through a few of the comments that stood out to me. I touched on Emma's points about her experience in south Derry. I acknowledge that there are particular constituencies where this has been a huge challenge, particularly in West Belfast. My colleague Councillor Paul Doherty has done a huge amount of work in advocating a more robust response and a twin-track — no pun intended — approach of engaging with young people and the community groups and youth groups that can reach those young people. It is important to say that, in many cases, the escalation of the misuse of scrambler bikes and e-scooters is about young kids, often but not exclusively young men, who do it for innocent reasons to begin with. It is a fun activity with their mates. However, it escalates quickly, and they often are not aware of or it is not made clear to them the consequences if things go wrong and, indeed, even if it is at a lower level, the inconvenience and the effect they are having on neighbours in their community. Phillip Brett mentioned the issues in North Belfast. It is clearly an issue in North Belfast too, including around the Belfast hills that overlook the city. In responding to the debate, the Minister mentioned the relevant articles of the Criminal Justice (NI) Order 2008 — actually, they were first mentioned by Nuala McAllister and then touched on by the Minister — to show that there are powers that exist at the minute. It is not that there is no legal underpinning for the police to take action, whether that is enforcement around the young people who are driving such vehicles or seizing or destroying them. Those powers exist, but clearly they are not being used as effectively and as comprehensively as we would wish. We are open — that is why it is mentioned in our motion — to looking at other potential legislative interventions to tackle this scourge. It was also said that there may not be enough time left in the mandate. It is worth going back to the point — Members from the Minister's party have made it many times — that it is one of the frustrations that, less than a year from the dissolution of the Assembly, we end up saying to ourselves again that we do not have time. It will be five years on from the previous election. If there are legislative interventions that could and should have been made to make communities safer and reduce potential loss of life through e-scooter and scrambler misuse but were not, it will be a poor judgement on the Executive and Assembly. The use of drones is an interesting suggestion. Drones are used in a policing context in Northern Ireland. Obviously, you would want to be assured — members of the Policing Board would be able to ask questions — that their use was proportionate and was only to target specific problem areas rather than in a widespread or catch-all way. The amendment also refers about mandatory registration at the point of sale, which means looking at regulatory as well as legislative changes. We should look at every available effective opportunity, within reason, to tackle the scourge. At the beginning of the debate, we said that many young people are engaging in the activity as a hobby or a bit of craic, and the proposals are not to demonise them. I take slight issue with Mr Carroll for saying that it is demonising young people: all Members who spoke about this as a problem were clear that young people who ride scramblers are not being demonised. It is important to say that. It is also important to say that you can engage with young people. That will be a critical part of the effort. There are clearly circumstances in which the activity escalates and the policing response is not only legitimate but probably essential. We should not dismiss that.

That is not the subject of the debate; there is a reference to it in the DUP amendment. As I said, if there are specific targeted uses of the drones, that would need to be tested at the Policing Board. The principle is that, if things can be used to reduce harm, they should be explored. Those are legitimate questions that should be tested by the Policing Board. It is not strictly the subject of the debate, but I recognise the concern that the Member has outlined. The key thing is to protect people while allowing young people proper activity that directs their energy and allows them to feel included in society. We can do both of those things, but we should not trivialise the issue. People on this island have lost their lives. It can be an inconvenience — indeed, a scourge — for certain parts of this city and other places, so let us work together to take action on the issue. I hope that we will see practical delivery before this mandate breaks up. The Opposition will press for that.

1,248 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:26 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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