Cardiff police seize 17 illegal e-bikes

[thirdcrank]

Ebikes in general and the EAPC regulations in particular are outside my training or experience so I'm cautious about posting here.

As a general point, the prosecution in a summary criminal case is not required to prove things which are only within the knowlege of the defendant. As more stuff is recorded on official computers like the DVLA, the less is within the exclusive knowlege of the defendant.

To take the example of the EAPC regulations, AIUI the user is availing themselves of exemptions wihich only they can be aware of. The exemptions from vehicle registration, which again AIUI are central to the EAPC scheme is - to me at least - the important thing here.

My reading of the limited reoprts of this Cardiff case, is that the police seized a number of scooters which on the face of it involved exploiting (?) flouting (?) the EAPC concessions. If these machines had no registration plates etc.,the police would have had no way to establish their legality or otherwise.At that point, nobody was being prosecuted. Depending on the timescales, AFAIK, it's open to any of those involved to reveal the information within their knowlege. That is, demonstrate how their use of their scooter was legal

I cannot see that a jury would play any part in this. (It would be different if it were to be alleged that somebody had an insurance claim, especially for serious injury, but I've read no mention of that.)